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■  III.    i^r> .  i'_i>ui  I  I 


iii'ilVERSITY  OF  CALIFOKfJlA.  SAN  OlEGft 
LA  JOLLA.  CALIFORNIA 


f    11R   D'^    lQf^07 


3  1822  01443  8832 


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Social  Sciences  &  Humanities  Library 

University  of  California,  San  Diego 
Please  Note:  This  item  is  subject  to  recall. 

Date  Due 


MAY  2  9  2000 

CI  39  (5/97)                                                                              UCSD  Lib. 

THE  GREAT  FUTURE 

OF 

AMERICA  &  AFRICA. 


THE  GREAT  FUTURE 


OF 


iVMERICA  AND  AFRICA; 


AN  ESSAY  SHOWING 


Our  Whole  Duty  to  the  Black  Man, 


CONSISTENT  WITH 


©ur  ©ran  Safetj)  anb  ®lorE. 


BY  JACOB  DEWEES,  M.  U. 

» 

"The  charges  against  me  are  all  of  one  kind:  that  1  have  pushed  the 
principles  of  general  justice  and  benevolence  too  far  —  farther  than  a 
cautious  pobcy  v\ouid  warrant;  and  farther  than  the  opuuofi>  of  many 

v>uuld  go  al  )n.   vn  i!.  m  ,.  -  In  r\rr\  accident  which  mav  hap^>< u  liiruugii 
Lie,   -   1  ..u-  loiJ  ■  d  thi.- ai    u.-ulion  and  be  <  on  I-,  .ted!'        B'   liKL 


PHlLADEUnilA. 
PRINTED  FOR   THE   AUTHOR    BY   H  ORR. 

No    100  CHesmut  Si 
i65\. 


Republibhea  by 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1854, 
by  Jacob  Dewees.  M.  D.  in  the  Office  of  the  Clerk  of  the 
District  Court,  in  and  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


Paper  uaed  in  thii  editioo  is 
a  fine  acid-free,  pennaiient/durable  paper 

of  the  type  mmmonly  referred  to  as 
"300-year"  paper 


CONTE^nTS. 


CHAPTER  I — Slavery  a  Dis-  j 

ease. 

Where  shall  we  find  a  Remedy?  IT 
The  Two  Doctors.     Dr.  Coloni- 

sation'a  Treatment 20 

Dr  Abolition's  Treatment 26 

J««tice  to  the  Master  demands 

a  Combined  Practice 30 

CHAPTER  II.— Slayery,  if 
perpetuated,  fatal  to  Nations. 

Teachings  of  the  Egyptian  Bon- 
dage of  Israel,  its  diriue  Par- 
pose 35 

Parallel  between  Egyptian  And 
American  Bondage 3& 

Reaion  calls  for  the  Exodus  of 
the  African  Rncc 40 

What  duties — what  I  sacrifices 
the   call  ilemands^of  us 43 

What  the  Pait^  says  to  the  Fu- 
ture, if  we '  refuse  the  De- 
mand. ...  „ 45 

The  inevitable  Fate  of  Nations 
—how  shall  we  retard  it? 46 

The  eotuent  of  all  parties  ne- 
cessary to  the  Exodus 48 

CHAPTER  III.— The  Public 
Domain  viewed  as  a  Means 
ibr  Emancipation. 

Degrading  Effects  of  the  Mis- 
management and  Misappro- 
priatioa  of  the  Domain „     50 


Description,  History,  ar.d  Ex- 
teui  of  the  Domain 56 

Abuses  and  Proper  Uses  of  the 
Domain 60 

Congress  un£t  to  manage  the 
Domain 68 

CHAPTER   IV.— Plan       for 

Constitutionally  Remorin^ 
the  Public  Lands  from  the 
Custody  of  CoDgrefls,  and 
for  ejecting  Emancipatioo. 

Proposal  for  a  Convention  of  the 
People  to  consider  the  Sub- 
jects of  Emancipation,  Colo- 
nization, and  the  Appropria- 
tion of  the  Public  Domain 71 

Plan  of  Orgaaization  for  a 
Board  of  the  Public  Domain..     T2 

Appropriations  to  Public  Works 
in  Africa,  to  prBparo  for  the 
Exodns. 73 

Rducation  of  the  Young  Negro 
for  Usefulness  in  Afriefc. 75 

The  "  Redemption"  System  will 
aid  the  Exodus 76 

Immense  Results  of  the  Plan,  in 
Civilizin?  and  Christianizing 
Africa 7" 

Proposed  Appropriations^  for 
American  Public  Schools, 
which  would  ultimately  extin- 
■guisL  the  State  Debts.ic 79 

Folly  of  the  '•  Free  ITcme?--    .. ' 
Scheme.when  contrastr  J  with  . 
this  Plan 80 


CONTENTS. 


Mcana  of  preventing  Injnry  to 
the  South  from  the  loss  of 
Slave  Laborers  daring  the 
Exodus,  bj  encouraging  Ame- 
rican Manufactures 80 

Necessity  of  prudently  husband- 
ing the  Proceeds  of  the  Do- 
main, to  remunerate  the  Mas- 
ter for  the  loss  of  the  Slave...     81 

Amplitude  of  our  Resources  to 
meet  all  Demands,  if  carefully 
managed 82 

Beneficial  Results  of  the  pro- 
posed Management  of  the  Do- 
main upon  Agriculture,  Com- 
merce, Currency,  and  Public 
Morals 84 

Tendency  of  California  Gold  to 
titend  Slare  Territory 91 

Farther  Remarks  on  the  Evil 
Tendency  of  the  Free  Home- 
stead Bill 93 

CHAPTER  v.— Pint  Duties 
of  the  proposed  Board  of  the 
Public  Domain,  in  relation  to 
the  Exodus. 

Preparation  of  Africa  for  the 
Reception  of  Immigrants 96 

Preparation  of  Colored  Arti- 
zans  and  Teachers  of  Religion, 
for  Emigration  to  Africa. 97 

Adaptation  of  African  Rivers 
for  public  Improvements 100 

Relation  of  the  River  Niger  to 
Liberia  and  the  Nile «&. 

Vast  field  for  Rail-roads  and  In- 
ternal Trade. 101 

Grandeur  of  the  Future  of  Afri- 
ca,  if  aided  according  to  the 
proposed  Plan. 105 

The  Execution  of  the  Plan 
would  pay  in  fiill  our  Debt  to 
the  NeRTO  liice lOT 

CHAPTER  VI.— Our  Ten- 
dency  to  National  Decay 
through  the  Influence  of 
Slavery,  proved  by  the  Ear- 
lier and  mare  Recent  His- 
tory of  our  policy. 


Active  Interest  of  the  People  in 
the  policy  of  Government,  in 
Colonial  Times 110 

The  same  Activity  in  Early  Na- 
tional Times 117 

The  Administration  of  John 
Adams 118 

Acquisition  of  Right  of  Entry 
on  Indian  Lands  by  Treaty.,     ib. 

Popular  Resistance  against  Law, 
how  met 119 

The  Administration  of  Thomas 
JeflFerson 121 

Weakness  of  the  Frontier ib. 

Weakness  of  the  Government....    A. 
The   Administration  of  James 
Madison 122 

War  with   En^^d A. 

Project  for  demanding  Canada 

as  an  Indemnity...... 133 

This  Action  discouatenanced  by 

Government. H. 

Apathy  of  the  Federalists  and 

general  calm,  but  Honesty  in 

management  of  AUkiri 134 

The   Administration  of  James 

Monroe 136 

Just  Guardianship  of  the  Public 

Lands A. 

Early  but  trifling  pre-emption 

Grants - 13S 

Prudence    and    Economy  itOI 

predominant. A. 

First    comsiderable    Grants  of 

Land    for  Public   ^ImproT*- 

ments 128 

The  St.  Joseph's  Purchase. A. 

The  Administration  of  Andrew 

Jackson 139 

Rererse  of  the  Picture. A. 

Large  Purchase  of  Land  from 

the  Indians A. 

Loose  eztoisions  of  the  Bight  of 

Pre-emption. ISO 

Attempts  to  check  mad  Speen- 

lations  inLands „,,^»—  133 

Financial  Ignoraaee. A. 

Agricultnral  madnen    and   its 

consequences 133 


CONTENT rf. 


Apparent  Prosperity ib. 

Caoses  of  the  consequent  Col- 
lapse    134 

Retirement  of  Andrew  Jackson.,     ib. 

Administration  of  Martin  Van 
Burcn — he  "  treads  in  the 
footsteps," 135  j 

Financial  Crisis t6.  1 

Suspension  of  Specie  Payments.  136  ' 

False  Views  and  False  Policy..  137  I 

Administration       of      William  { 

Henry  Harrison,    and     John 

Tyler 139 

No  Wisdom  learned  from  Ex- 
perience   140 

Extravagance,  ComipUon,  and 
abuse  of  the  I'ublic  Domain 
continued A. 

Administration  of  Jas.  K.  Polk..  141 
The  Mexican  AVar,  for   the  ex- 
tension of  Slavery,  and  Spe- 
culation in  State  Debt ib. 

No  Reformation  of  Abuses 143 

Presidential  Usurpation 144 

Proposal  to  reduce  the  Price  of 
certain  unsold  Lands  to 
Twenty  Five  Cents  per  Acre..  145 

Killions  of  Acres  Squandered...  146 

Administration  of  Zachary  Tay- 
lor and  Millard  Fillmore.i 152 

Application  of  California  for 
Admission  into  the  Union ib. 

The  SlaTe  Question  in  fall  Agi- 
tation       ib. 

Efforts  to  dissolve  the  Union...-   ib. 

The  Compromise..... ,.. .,    ib. 

▲dminiatntion  of  Franklia 
Reree 163 

The  Pre-emption  Laws  at  the 
Bottom  of  the  disasters  of  the 
Coontiy 164 

The  Free  Homeatead  BiU,  the 
longest  step  in  the  march  of 
National  D«caj A. 

The  laaritable  cooMqaaieea  of 
our  preaeat  Policy,  in  rda. 
tioB  to  Tenitory,  if  coati- 
■«ed  in  ron—xioo  with  the 
PetaucMe  of  aUveiy IM 


CHAPTER  VII.— A  plain  talk 
with  the  Fieo  Man  of  Colour 
in  the  United  States. 

Motives  for  an  African  Exottofl..  169 

The  Influence  of  the  Abolition- 
ist injurious  to  the  Slave 169 

Kindness  the  Law,  and  Cruelty 
the  exception  with  the  Slave 
Master  :  bu^  the  Exceptions 
are  such  that  Humanity  de- 
mands  Emancipation 1^0 

The  Establishment  of  an  Afri- 
can Nationality  essential  to 
the  Advancement  of  Freemaa 
:.nd  Slave....: A. 

The  Abolitionists  sabstitnte 
Feeling  for  Reasoa,  in  Arg»- 
I  lent  and  Practice  ;  they  act 
y  pon  Individual  cases  illegal- 
ly, and  advocate  the  Imprac- 
ticable   ITS 

Equality  impossible  to  the  Free 

Coloured  Man  here Cons». 

quences  of  attempting  it. 173 

America  has  nothing  to  oAr 
the  Free  Coloured  Man  here, 
comparable  with  African  la- 
dependence 1 74 

Political  Objects  of  the  Abtrii- 
tionist  Agitators. A. 

The  Attempt  at  nacoaditionaJ 
Emancipation  mast  piotoue 
CivU  War ITS 

Condition  of  the  Aftieaa  Kaee 
in  CivU  War. iTt 

Possibility  of  a  peaceful  DiriaoB 
of  the  Union.  Coaditiatt  of  the 
ColoaredBace  ia  thatCaee.-.  ITt 

Twe  distiaet  Raeaa  caaaot  aiM 
together  in  IqQafifty..J itt 

The  trae  politJeal  PaaUiaa  of 
the  Afrieaa. Baee  ia  thia 
Cooatry ..^ ...... ....~ — ~.  1T9 

The  Coloared  Aaaneaa  itfia 
Gaffliva AJpeaaiiii H9 

BlghtiefCapliiM — 
Yalaeoftihe  plea  err 

excaaaf  die  fceeai '. 

otmCmf6w.\ Ml 

«f 


C(»NT  KxV  T.->. 


?  rity,  and  their  political  Conse- 
qoenccs Irl 

Reasons  why  the  Free  Man  of 
Colour  should  favour  ^Coio- 
nization  and  African  Na- 
tionality     184 

Reasons  forE.xodns.'thoupIi  all 
Public  aid  should  be  refused..   186 

Climate  of  Africa;  folly  of  judg- 
ing it  by  the  health  of  the 
Coast 18T 

African  health  and  difficulties 
compared  with  those  of  our 
early  Colonics,  &c IDl 

Effects  of  African  Progress  on 
SUverj  in  the  United  States.,    ib. 


Folly  of  di. [lending'  ufio.n  ihe 
pretended  [lolitical  friends  of 
the  Nepro,  for  political  ilera- 

tion  here 104 

FaliC  friendship  of  ('■  reat  Britain.   1 9i 
Folly   of  depeTidinjr    upon    Na- 
tions or  People  for  aid,  '•  he- 
cause  it  is  right." 197 

Is  there  -labor  enough  for  all' 
in  this  Country? 211 

Proposed  exploration  of  Africa 
by  Free  Blacks 215 

Further  remarks  on  the  errone- 
ous Policy  of  the  Abolition- 
ists    220 

Concluding  Appeals ,.  232 


TO  THE  COyGR£SS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


In  recommending  this  Essay  to  your  serious 
attention,  I  am  actuated  by  no  disrespectful  mo- 
tive, though  approaching  you  with  the  self-confi- 
dence of  a  legitimate  American  sovereign,  address- 
ing the  no  less  legitimate  agents  of  the  sovereign 
authority. 

That  our  Union  has  been,  and  still  is  endanger- 
ed by  the  great  sectional  question  of  the  age,  you 
know — that  the  embarrassments  of  that  question 
have  been  increased  by  a  fatal  policy  in  relation  to 
that  heaviest  of  national  trusts,  the  Public  Domain, 
1  believe: — therefore,  as  a  parly  directly  interested 
in  that  trust,  and  familiar  witti  its  history,  I  feel 
bound,  in  justice  to  myself,  my  country,  and  the 
heirs  of  her  greatness,  to  object  to  the  manner  in 
which  it  has  been  administered  by  you.  The 
grounds  of  my  objections,  and  my  idea  of  the  mode 
in  which  the  trust  may  be  made  conducive  to  our 
national  glory  and  prosperity,  to  the  removal  of  the 
greatest  evil  which  threatens  our  future,  and  to  the 
present  and  permanent  happiness  of  iriore  races 
than  one — are  developed  in  the  following  pages, 
which  to  you  are  hereby 

Respectfully  dedicated 

By  your  constituent  and  fellow  citizen, 
THE  AUTHOR. 

CpperMerion,  Uonlgumery  County,  Pn.,  May,  1854. 


PREFACE. 


The  following  pages  are  addressed  alike  to  the 
American  of  the  white  race,  and  the  free  Negro  of 
the  United  States.  They  embrace  the  outline  of 
an  extensive  system  of  reform,  including  the  ulti- 
mate emancipation  of  the  entire  African  race;  not 
by  the  slow  process  of  colonization,  by  a  private 
society  with  slender  means;  nor  by  the  headlong 
policy  of  "abolition,"  which  asks  of  the  master  sa- 
crifices that  never  will  be — never  can  be  made. 
This  system  includes  also  the  permanent  and  effec- 
tual establishment  of  common  schools,  with  ample 
provision  for  their  maintenance;  and  it  provides  in- 
cidentally for  the  gradual  extinguishment  of  the 
debts  of  those  states  which  are  now  burdened  with 
such  responsibilities,  and  for  many  other  public 
facilities  to  all  the  states,  without  undue  or  inequit- 
able advantage  to  any  of  them.  Nor,  in  effecting 
these  desirable  purposes,  does  it  propose  any  un- 
constitutional or  anti-American  proceeding. 

The  reader  will  be  startled,  perhaps,  at  the  vast- 
ness  of  such  a  scheme.   Probably,  he  may  exclaim. 


M  p  II I-:  i-  A  c  i: 

"  where  s>a'l  we  find  the  means  for  such  an  incal- 
tulabiy  exner^ae  project"'  The  author  is  liable 
10  all  the  errors  inseparable  from  human  judgment 
— he  may  be  liable  to  the  misleadings  of  enthusi- 
asm; but — read  and  decide!  He  cannot  plead  igno- 
rance of  the  problem  which  he  has  undertaken  to 
discuss,  in  excuse  for  his  mistakes;  for,  he  has  not 
attempted  to  wander  beyond  the  field  in  which  he 
has  grown  gray  in  observation  and  reflection.  Un- 
less, then,  he  has  been  strangely  deceived  by  his 
wishes,  ihe  reader  will  rise  from  the  perusal  of 
these  pages,  convinced  that  our  beloved  country 
holds  ir.  her  command  wealth  amply  sufficient  to 
accomplish  all  th^se  ends,  as  rapidly  as  their  ac- 
complishment is  desirable, — and  this  without  jar- 
ring the  finances,  or  imposing  fresh  burdens  on  the 
public.  Nay  more!  He  sincerely  believes  that  the 
system  of  appropriation  herein  recommended  sup- 
plies the  only  hope  of  checking  the  current  of 
public  corruption,  and  also  much  of  the  private  and 
petty  looseness  of  morals  by  which  botli  govern- 
ment and  society  have  been  advanced  in  degrada- 
tion within  the  last  twenty  years. 

The  mere  attempt  to  secure  such  blessings  for 
bis  fellow  citizens,  requires  no  apology  from  the 
author;  he  feels  that  it,  also,  confers  apon  him  the 
right  to  expect  a  careful  examination  of  his  views, 


PREFACE  15 

before  even  they  are  condemned — and  he  asks  no 
more. 

To  the  free  man  of  color  he  would  say  that,  in 
the  final  chapter,  which  is  especially  addressed  to 
him,  there  will  be  found  no  flattery,  but  ample 
kindness.  It  is  very  rarely  that  persons  of  this 
class  receive  direct  attention  from  those  who  dis- 
cuss their  interests  and  their  well-being.  It  may  be 
invidious  to  attribute  this  fact  to  the  real  indiffer- 
ence of  pretended  friendship,  where  nothing  is  to  be 
gained  personally  by  the  seeming  philanthropist; 
but,  the  fear  of  hostility  should  not  lead  us  to  the 
concealment  of  truth.  In  the  picture  of  the  hope- 
lessness of  the  political  condition  of  the  African 
race  with  us,  and  the  bright  future  of  Africa,  this 
treatise  offers  to  that  race  the  only  advice  that  can 
prove  truly  and  practically  useful  to  it;  and  the 
author  has  no  hesitation  in  urging  the  genuine  phi- 
lanthropist to  press  the  consideration  of  this  advice 
upon  the  down-trodden  people  who  wear 

"The  shadowed  livery  of  the  burniMicd  sun." 


OUR  WHOLE  DUTY  TO  THE  BLACK  MAN. 


CHAPTER  I. 

SLAVERY   A   DISEASE. 

Allegorical  Account  of  the  past  Treatment  of  Slavery — Its  Treatment 
by  the  Colonizationists,  and  by  the  Abolitionists  —  Both  have  neglected 
the  Magnitude  of  the  Evil,  and  the  Question  of  Justice  to  the  Master 
in  the  Remedy  —  A  combined  Treatment  necessary. 

What  is  to  be  done  with  Slavery  in  the  United 
States?  This  is  a  question  which  urges  itself 
upon  every  inquiring  and  reflecting  mind,  when 
we  observe,  for  the  last  few  years,  with  the  assem- 
bling of  each  Congress,  the  whole  nation  convulsed 
in  contending  on  the  one  hand  for,  and  on  the  other 
against,  some  new  principle  applicable  to  Slavery. 
Moreover,  the  mind  of  individuals,  of  nations,  and 
indeed  of  the  whole  Christian  community  is  aroused, 
and  full  of  inquiry  into  the  subject  of  African 
Slavery,  especially  as  it  exists  in  the  United  States. 

This  inquiry,  in  itself,  naturally  suggests  the 
question,  why  is  it  that  Slavery,  especially  chattel 
slavery,  exists  at  all  ?  The  causes  are  numerous, 
B  ('"^ 


18  OURWIIOLEDUTY 

but  the  most  prominent  of  those  which  have  led  to 
its  establishment  in  the  United  States  are,  the  love 
of  power  which  one  nation  desires  to  exercise  over 
another,  with  a  view  to  wealth  regardless  of  the 
means,  and  a  licentious  indulgence  of  human  pas- 
sions, to  secure  national  wealth  and  individual 
idleness. 

In  each  and  every  cause  conducing  to  chattel 
slavery  and  its  continuance,  you  will  find  con- 
cealed the  germ  of  an  evil,  which,  in  its  full 
development,  destroys  the  glory  of  nations.  But 
these  causes  have  been  so  thoroughly  examined, 
and  are  so  fully  understood,  that  little  remains 
to  be  said  upon  the  subject ;  nor  do  I  desire  to  do 
so.  My  object  is,  to  point  out  the  mode  of  practically 
adapting  means  to  the  accomplishment  of  emancipa- 
tion in  the  United  States.  With  this  view,  I  shall 
be  obliged  to  speak,  first,  of  what  has  been  done ; 
and  secondly,  what  yet  remains  to  be  done,  when- 
ever it  shall  become  the  desire  of  the  nation  to 
render  justice  to  the  African.  And  when  speaking 
of  what  ought  to  be  done  in  order  that  the  means 
may  be  made  sufficient  to  the  purposed  end,  I  feel 
I  am  treading  upon  the  borders  of  a  field  which  has 
not  yet  been  cultivated  by  the  people  with  sufficient 
zeal  and  care  to  produce  a  profitable  harvest ;  a  field 
upon   which   so   few   of  the   advocates   of  African 


TOTHEBLACKMAN.  19 

emancipation  have  entered,  in  order  to  show  the 
world  its  length  and  breadth,  its  resources,  its  fer- 
tiUty  of  soil  and  its  capacity  of  being  cultivated, 
that  I  fear  I  shall  be  traversing  a  country  little 
known,  its  value  little  understood,  and,  perhaps, 
little  cared  for,  though  capable  of  contributing 
immensely  to  the  advantage  of  both  master  and 
slave.  To  the  development  of  the  vast  promise  of 
this  region  my  efforts  shall  be  directed. 

Nearly  all  that  has  yet  been  attempted  with  a 
view  to  the  entire  emancipation  of  slaves  in  the 
United  States,  has  been  done  by  the  "  Colonization  " 
and  "Abolition"  societies;  the  one  society  looking 
forward  to  the  time  when,  through  its  means,  ulti- 
mate emancipation  shall  be  consummated — the  other, 
claiming  to  emancipate  at  once  and  unconditionally, 
upon  the  abstract  principle  of  rifjht  to  tlic  slave.  If 
this  latter  Society  would  vaoXwdiQ  justice  to  the  master 
in  its  theories,  then,  in  point  of  feeling,  little  diffe- 
rence would  exist  between  them. 

But  whatever  may  be  the  opinions,  sentiments, 
and  rules  of  conduct  on  the  part  of  these  societies, 
all  thinking  men  admit  that  slavery,  as  it  exists 
amongst  us,  is  a  disease  of  the  most  fearful  character, 
in  its  consequences  upon  the  body  politic ;  that  it  is 
an  excrescence  of  vast  magnitude,  tending  to  react 
upon,  and  debilitate  the  whole  body  in  such  a  way 


20  OURWHOLEDUTY 

as  to  produce  an  unhealthy  action  throughout  the 
entire  system.  The  symptoms  of  the  disease  which 
this  excrescence  has  already  produced,  are  not  to  be 
mistaken ;  they  are  of  a  convulsive  character.  The 
excrescence  has  taken  deep  root,  and  is  of  long  stand- 
ing; and  although  measures  to  check  the  further 
growth  of  the  tumour  have  been  in  part  successful, 
the  many  attempts  which  have  been  made  to  destroy 
it  seem  never  to  have  had  the  desired  effect,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  whenever  a  cure  has  been  talked  of 
and  attempted,  the  symptoms  have  invariably  tended 
towards  "  convulsion." 

To  cure  this  evil,  two  physicians  presented  them- 
selves. Both  have  tried  their  skill,  and  neither  has 
3^et  given  up  the  patient. 

The  first,  recommended  that  such  remedies  should 
be  applied  as  would  cause  portions  of  the  protube- 
rance to  drop  off,  from  time  to  time,  and  create  as 
little  irritability  in  the  nerves  of  the  patient  as  pos- 
sible ;  and  the  employment  of  means  promising  such 
results  met  the  approbation  of  many  of  the  best  friends 
of  the  patient.  The  remedies,  too,  seemed  to  be 
such  as  common  sense  and  correct  reasoning  would 
dictate ;  but  the  cure  has  not  been  effected  by  these 
means.  Yet  many,  very  many  of  the  most  ardent 
admirers  of  the  sufferer,  won  even  to  an  untiring 
attachment  by  his  solid  virtues,  still  believe  that  the 


TOTHEBLACKMAN.  21 

removing  of  the  excrescence  by  mild  remedies,  such 
as  tend  gradually  to  reduce  the  size  of  the  protube- 
rance, without  the  loss  of  blood  or  a  violent  agitation 
of  the  system,  constitutes  the  only  proper  plan  of 
cure.  They  are,  moreover,  fully  possessed  of  the 
belief  that,  if  something  effective  is  not  speedily 
done  to  eradicate  the  tumour  and  allay  the  irrita- 
bility of  the  patient,  his  constitution  will  be  fatally 
undermined  at  no  distant  day.  This  doctor  has  the 
fullest  confidence  that  his  remedies,  given  in  doses 
large  enough  to  produce  the  desired  effect,  would 
complete  the  cure ;  but  he  complains  that  the  medi- 
cine is  of  the  most  costly  character  j  that,  thus  far, 
he  has  been  at  the  entire  expense  of  providing  it ; 
that  he  has  borne  this  expense  in  consequence  of  his 
regard  and  high  respect  for  the  patient,  and  that  he 
could  desire  nothing  more  than  that  he  should  enjoy 
a  long  life  and  happy  old  age.  But,  for  all  this,  the 
patient  does  not  look  smilingly  on  the  means  of  cure. 
He  will  not  even  acknowledge  that  one  of  the 
remedies  upon  which  the  doctor  piques  himself  very 
much,  as  having  been  the  means  of  great  relief,  is 
really  a  good  remedy  \  being  fearful,  perhaps,  that  if 
he  should  acknowledge  its  excellent  and  beneficial 
influence,  he  would  be  called  upon  to  purchase 
largely  of  the  costly  article.  Now  in  this,  I  think 
Uncle  Samuel  —  I  may  as  well  name  him,  for  no 


22  OURWnOLEDUTY 

doubt  you,  reader,  have  a  great  regard  for  him  — 
behaves  much  Hke  the  miser  who  would  rather 
suffer  a  consuming  disease  to  prey  upon  his  very 
vitals,  than  be  at  the  expense  of  a  dose  of  medicine, 
but  never  fails  to  swallow  such  medicines  as  are 
supplied  gratuitously  by  his  friends. 

But  this  manifestation  on  the  part  of  the  old 
gentleman  is  somewhat  strange ;  for  he  is  rich,  and 
can  hardly  be  said  to  be  miserly,  as  he  spends  money 
in  vast  sums  for  all  necessary  purposes.  Indeed,  in 
anything  that  seems  to  improve  his  condition,  he 
never  appears  backward.  He  has  one  very  bad 
fault,  however,  which  is,  that  in  all  that  relates  to 
his  health  or  the  management  of  his  estate,  he  has 
a  too  willing  ear  for  the  quack  in  medicine  and  the 
demagogue  in  politics  ;  consequently  he  is  often  the 
victim  of  deceit  in  his  undertakings.  For  example ; 
not  very  long  ago,  he  was  persuaded  that  one  of  his 
neighbours  had  a  very  valuable  farm  adjoining  his 
own;  that  he  ought  to  purchase  it,  and  that  he 
could  do  so  to  the  great  advantage  of  his  whole 
family,  especially  as  his  neighbour  owed  him  a 
considerable  sum  of  money.  But  it  so  turned  out 
that  his  neighbour  was  not  very  willing  to  sell.  He 
was  then  advised  to  give  him  a  few  kicks  and  cuffs, 
and  threaten  to  drive  him  off  his  farm  altogether ; 
upon  which  no  doubt  he  would  be  able  to  purchase. 


TOTHEBLACKMAN.  23 

Well,  he  followed  this  advice.  He  broke  the  peace, 
and  gave  his  neighbour  a  most  awful  drubbing. 
This  drubbing  cost  him  a  round  sum  of  money.  He 
had  also  to  buy  the  land  at  full  price  afterwards ; 
yet,  and  as  soon  as  the  purchase  was  made,  these 
same  persons  who  persuaded  him  to  do  a  thing 
not  calculated  to  elevate  his  character  for  noble 
deeds,  turned  right  upon  him,  and  adrised  him  to 
give  away  all  the  lands  thus  purchased,  and  all  such 
besides  as  might  be  in  his  possession  and  unoccupied, 
in  other  places,  in  parcels  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres,  to  any  and  everybody  who  might  choose  to  take 
them  as  a  ^fl,  whether  such  persons  should  have 
contributed  much,  or  little,  or  nothing,  to  the  acqui- 
sition of  these  lands !  The  good  that  would  result 
from  this  advice  was  not  easily  to  be  understood  — 
the  evil  connected  with  it  seemed  palpable.  That 
such  a  measure  should  be  expected  to  result  in  good, 
seemed  to  be  in  direct  opposition  to  all  the  dictates 
of  political  economy,  and  in  violation  of  all  expe- 
rience in  the  management  of  individual  estates. 
That  such  a  measure  would  incapacitate  the  old 
gentleman  from  carrying  forward  to  a  successful 
issue  any  large  project  of  philanthropy,  in  relation 
to  education  or  anything  else,  in  improving  his 
estate  by  new  roads,  or,  indeed,  in  effecting  improve- 
ments of  any  kind  —  scarcely  admits  of  a  doubt. 


24  OURWHOLEDUTT 

That  a  like  policy  would  ruin  an  individual,  and 
render  every  member  of  his  family  beggars,  is  most 
certain.  Uncle  Samuel  understood,  too,  that  wher- 
ever land  ranged  at  the  highest  prices,  there  was  the 
the  most  industry  observable,  and  there  was  the 
enjoyment  of  the  most  liberal  distribution  of  com- 
forts. So  he  could  not  be  persuaded  to  give  away 
his  lands.  But  unfortunately,  just  at  this  time,  it 
was  discovered  that  his  new  purchase  contained  a 
vast  amount  of  gold!  And  then,  without  asking 
Uncle  Samuel,  "  Will  you  give  me  the  land  or  not  ?" 
away  these  people  ran  from  all  parts  of  the  world, 
China  and  all,  and,  taking  the  land  without  money 
and  without  price,  began  to  dig  gold.  Now  the 
worst  feature  in  all  this  lawlessness  is,  that  when 
the  old  gentleman  sent  his  strong  men  to  whip  his 
neighbour  into  selling  part  of  his  farm,  he  absolutely 
weakened  himself,  both  morally  and  physically,  so 
much,  that  he  was  powerless  in  defence  of  his  own 
property  !  Had  he  made  an  honourable  purchase, 
he  could  have  controlled  his  property  by  the  same 
force  with  which  he  subdued  his  neighbour;  by 
which  means  he  could  have  maintained  his  lawful 
authority  and  his  just  rights. 

Here  we  find  a  source  of  the  deepest  regret. 
Under  this  depredation  upon  his  rights,  he  loses, 
first,  all  claim  to  liigh  moral  conduct,  and,  secondly. 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  25 

lie  also  loses  the  very  means  required  to  purchase 
the  expensive  remedy  already  referred  to,  without 
which  his  life  w^ill  probably  be  sacrificed ;  which 
means  might  be  abundantly  procured  from  his  newly- 
purchased  acres. 

Leaving  our  allegory  for  the  moment,  it  is  plain 
that  a  reasonable  rent  for  the  California  gold  mines 
would  secure  a  revenue  that  would  colonize  every 
African  in  the  United  States  in  the  course  of  one 
hundred  years.  Nor  ought  the  entire  emancipation 
of  the  slave  to  be  consummated  in  less  time,  if  we 
would  give  to  him  the  largest  advantages  which 
emancipation  is  capable  of  rendering  him. 

But,  (to  resume  our  parable,)  when  Uncle  Samuel 
has  shown  himself  on  the  one  hand  entirely  regard- 
less of  the  means  of  cure  applicable  to  his  case,  and, 
on  the  other,  has  displayed  an  utter  recklessness  of 
conduct  by  not  refraining  from  such  practices  as  are 
calculated  to  spread  the  disease  more  widely,  how 
can  we  beUeve  that  he  is  sincere  in  his  avowed  fears 
that  the  disease  will  prove  fatal  to  him  in  mind  and 
body  ?  Yet  it  is  certain,  and  he  knows  it  as  well  as 
any  one,  that  this  disease  never  yet  failed  to  destroy 
those  upon  whom  it  laid  its  festering  fangs,  body 
and  soul !  It  has  been  seen,  too,  that  the  old  gen- 
tleman has  a  hankering  after  the  estates  of  his 
neighbours,  and  as  he  grows  more  prodigal  in  his 


26  OUR    T7H0LE    DUTY 

expenses  and  i/rfimoral  in  his  practices,  he  seems  to 
entertain  less  fear  of  the  disease  than  he  did  in  his 
youth,  and  still  refuses  to  spend  money  m  medicine ; 
so  that  the  first  doctor  is  quite  out  of  patience  as 
well  as  purse. 

Another  set  of  friends,  who  advocate  a  different 
medical  school,  being  determined  that  he  should  not 
die  by  obstinacy,  forced  upon  him  the  attendance  of 
another  physician,  who  called  himself  Abolition, 
and  who  loved  Uncle  Samuel  as  much  as  did  Coloni- 
zation ;  but  he  was  more  ardent  in  his  feelings,  and 
pronounced  the  continuance  of  the  disease  death  to 
the  patient,  and  said  that  the  longer  it  continued, 
the  more  diflBcult  would  be  the  cure;  that  every- 
thing that  had  been  done  thus  far  had  been  of  no 
use ;  that  the  disease  was  daily  growing  worse ;  that 
even  the  remedies  which  he  once  thought  were  cal- 
culated to  do  good,  he  was  now  convinced  were  all 
pernicious  in  character,  and  oppressive  and  demoral- 
izing in  effect.  "With  the  same  confident  boldness, 
he  asserted  that  the  disease  was  gangrenous,  and  that 
nothing  short  of  immediate  extirpation  would  save 
the  patient's  life. 

To  this  course  of  practice  the  old  gentleman  de- 
murred. He  was  fearful  that  the  removing  of  the 
disease  at  one  single  operation  would  kill  him  ;  and, 
in  this  opinion,  he  had  some  of  his  best  tried  friends 


TOTHEBLACKMAN.  27 

to  agree  with  him.  He  gave,  as  further  reasons  why 
the  operation  should  not  be  performed,  that  he  had 
inherited  the  disease;  that  it  had  now  become 
constitutional  with  him;  that  although  he  should 
submit  to  the  operation  of  having  the  gangrenous 
part  of  the  excrescence  removed,  he  was  fearful  the 
disease  would  break  out  in  sores  upon  other  parts 
of  the  body,  and  that  the  remedy  proposed,  would, 
after  all,  prove  to  be  ineffectual.  The  doctor  then 
contended  that,  if  extirpation  was  not  allowed,  it 
would  be  absolutely  necessary  to  use  such  means  as 
would  tend  to  prevent  the  disease  from  spreading, 
and  that  it  often  happened,  especially  in  diseases  of 
the  shin,  that  the  application  of  a  blister  plaster 
upon  parts  of  the  body  where  the  skin  was  yet 
sound,  but  predisposed  to  the  disease,  would  prevent 
the  malady  from  extending  itself  over  the  whole 
body.  This  remedy,  he  thought  would,  in  all  pro- 
babiUty,  also  prevent  this  gangrenous  sore,  although 
deep-rooted,  from  enlarging  itself  in  its  malignant 
proportions.  At  all  events,  he  declared  that  there 
could  be  no  very  serious  harm  in  trying  it ;  for  that, 
in  the  youth  of  the  patient,  this  disease  showed 
itself  with  all  its  malignant  symptoms  in  darh  spots 
over  the  whole  body,  and,  in  consequence,  a  large 
plaster  was  applied  over  more  than  one-half  the 
surface,  black  spots  and  all.     By  this  application, 


28  OURWEOLEDUTT 

he  said,  the  disease  was  prevented  from  extending 
itself  over  the  parts  to  which  the  remedy  was 
applied ;  yet  he  was  sorry  to  acknowledge  that  this 
remedy  did  not  effect  a  complete  cure,  and  bring 
ease  and  comfort  to  the  black  spots ;  that,  in  them, 
the  evils  of  the  disease  still  continued,  and  that  the 
pains  and  sufferings  which  those  spots  still  manifest, 
are  such  that  even  the  parts  where  "the  blister 
drew,"  cannot  be  said  to  be  entirely  healed.  But, 
as  the  sore  had  become  gangrenous  upon  those  por- 
tions of  the  body  to  which  the  application  had  never 
been  made,  he  held  it  right  and  jDroper  to  employ  it 
there,  in  order  to  prevent  the  disease  from  spreading 
over  parts  where  the  skin  had  always  been  sound. 
But  being  not  exactly  clear  in  his  own  mind  that 
the  remedy  he  proposed  would  have  the  desired 
effect,  he  candidly  stated  that  only  a  few  years 
before  his  brother  Colonization  took  charge  of  the 
case,  a  remedy  similar  to  the  one  he  was  now  pro- 
posing had  been  again  tried;  but  the  blister  was 
not  fairly  drawn  before  the  sj^mptoms  of  convulsion 
in  the  patient  grew  so  strong,  that  a  large  portion 
of  the  plaster  was  cut  off,  and  it  was  not  allowed  to 
extend  beyond  a  certain  line  upon  the  body.  This 
had  the  effect  of  allaying  the  irritability  of  the 
patient.  Yet  that  the  remedy  was  a  good  one,  he 
had  not  the  least  doubt ;  for,  so  far  as  the  plaster 


TOTHEBLACKMAN.  29 

was  allowed  to  take  effect,  there  was  no  appearance 
of  these  black  spots  in  a  malignant  form  ;  and  rather 
than  not  try  the  remedy,  he  would  apply  it  if  he 
was  sure  that  it  would  convulse  the  whole  body  of 
the  patient,  even  to  dissolution !  He  made  the 
application,  and  it  had  the  effect  of  producing  con- 
vulsions throughout  the  whole  system ;  so  much  so, 
that  fears  began  to  be  entertained  upon  all  sides,  that 
the  constitution  of  Uncle  Samuel  would  give  way 
under  the  operation.  The  doctor  was  then  com- 
pelled to  yield  to  the  solicitations  of  many  of  the 
old  gentleman's  old  advisers  —  wlio  were  men  that 
believed  he  had  a  constitution  so  strong  and 
so  well  balanced  for  the  attainment  of  good  health, 
that  it  would  naturally  throw  off,  in  time,  the  scro- 
fulous disease  inherited  from  his  ancestors.  The 
doctor  had  to  submit  to  the  compromise.  But  he 
did  not  do  it  gracefully,  or  with  a  good  will.  He  still 
says  that  he  cannot  be  mistaken  in  the  prognostics 
of  the  disease,  and  that  he  will  continue  from  time 
to  time  to  apply  the  proper  remedy,  although  the 
patient  should  die  under  the  operation.  Thus  far, 
however,  his  efforts  seem  to  tend  towards  an  aggra- 
vation of  th^  disease  upon  those  parts  of  the  body 
where  the  sore  is  most  deeply  rooted.  Tliis  sore 
has  in  many  instances  assumed  a  most  inflammatory 
character;  it  has  become  more  painful  in  itself ;  it 


30  OURWHOLEDUTY 

festers,  and  throws  off  a  vast  quantity  of  frothy 
matter ;  it  requires  more  bandaging  to  keep  it  within 
its  old  limits.  Even  the  pressure  of  the  bandages 
aggravate  the  disease.  It  cannot  be  said  that  the 
abolition  doctor  has  accomplished  much  by  the 
application  of  any  of  his  remedies.  Yet  I  think  it 
must  be  allowed  that  he  has  effected  much  more  by 
his  assiduous  inquiries  into  the  nature  of  the  disease, 
and  that  he  is  not  unreasonable  in  his  opinion, 
that  the  death  of  the  patient  is  inevitable  if  the 
disease  be  not  cured.  He  has  brought  all  right- 
minded  men  to  a  full  conviction  that  he  is  correct  in 
his  i^rognostics,  though  he  is  wrong  in  his  remedies  ! 

The  theory  that  aims  at  the  true  means  of  eman- 
cipation in  the  United  States,  must  combine  justice  to 
the  master  with  freedom  to  the  slave.  Such  is  the 
decided  conclusion  of  men  who  have  not  as  yet 
actively  espoused  the  opinion  of  either  of  these 
doctors,  for  the  reason  that  the  one  does  not  aim 
directly  at  emancipation,  and  that  the  other  denies 
justice  to  the  master.  A  combination  of  the  views 
of  these  two  societies  might  be  made  to  place  in  our 
possession  vastly  more  efficient  means  for  carrying 
out  the  great  work  of  redeeming  from  bondage  the 
African  in  the  United  States.  Many  staunch  friends 
of  the  country  sincerely  desire  to  see  it  healed  of  all 


TOTHEBLACKMAN.  31 

gangrenous  sores ;  and  if  they  could,  by  imparting 
of  their  own  means,  effect  a  perfect  cure,  they 
would  do  so. 

Although  the  Government  displays  a  strange 
miserliness  in  not  aiding  so  desirable  a  purpose,  yet 
it  will  squander  upon  objects  of  little  worth  oceans 
of  wealth,  which,  if  applied  in  the  right  direction, 
would  effectually  secure  the  nation  from  the  per- 
petuation of  the  terrible  curse  of  slavery,  and  thus 
insure  peace,  safety,  and  prosperity  at  home,  and 
honour  and  high  distinction  abroad. 

The  country  is  full  of  patriotic  and  enlightened 
men,  who  do  not  hesitate  liberally  to  apply  their  pri- 
vate means  to  any  grave  purpose  of  national  import- 
ance. With  them  must  be  classed  a  large  proportion 
of  the  prominent  and  active  members  of  both  the 
Colonization  and  the  Abolition  societies,  who, 
undiscouraged  by  the  coldness  of  the  Government 
and  the  passions  of  the  sections,  still  labour  with 
equal  energy  to  rid  the  United  States  of  the  most 
threatening  embarrassment  to  its  march  of  unex- 
ampled prosperity,  and  (as  I  am  bound  to  believe,) 
with  equal  honesty  of  purpose.  But  unfortunately, 
instead  of  uniting  their  energies  in  one  common 
effort  with  each  other,  and  with  those  of  their  fellow 
citizens  who  feel,  and  would  make  any  sacrifice  to 
remove  this  curse  —  instead  of  bringing  their  com- 


32  OURWUOLEDUTY 

billed  influence  to  bear  upon  tbe  national  authori- 
ties, in  order  to  arouse  them  to  their  duties,  these 
societies  have  been  unhappily  placed  in  antagonistic 
positions.  The  solution  of  the  vexed  problem  of 
African  slavery  in  America  lies  with  neither  the 
one,  nor  the  other.  It  demands  a  union  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  both,  and  a  conjoint  effort  between  them, 
the  people,  and  the  rulers.  This,  and  this  only,  can 
give  a  rational  hope  that  the  plague  spots  may  be 
removed  from  the  bosom  of  the  country  —  that  jus- 
tice may  be  rendered  alike  to  master  and  slave,  to 
the  white  race  and  the  black  —  that  the  future 
Africa  may  look  back  to  the  sufferings  of  her  chil- 
dren in  this  land  of  liberty  as  a  blessing,  and  to 
American  Slavery  as  the  mother  of  African  Liberty 
and  Civilization  ! 

Such  I  believe  to  be  the  only  practical  mode  for 
the  accom2)lishment  of  a  purpose  fraught  with  the 
most  magnificent  consequences  to  the  national  glory 
and  honour ;  and,  to  develop  the  plan,  and  point  out 
the  proper  direction  of  this  joint  effort,  is  tlie  pur- 
pose which  I  have  humbly,  but  hopefully  undertaken 
in  the  production  of  these  pages. 


TOTHEBLACKMAN.  33 


CHAPTER  II. 

SLAVERY,  IF  PERPETUATED,  FATAL  TO  A  NATION. 

The  Divine  intention  of  Slavery  —  Parallel  between  Egyptian  and  Ameri- 
can bondage  —  Reason  demands  the  Exodus  of  the  African  Race — What 
the  Past  says  to  the  Future,  if  we  refuse  the  Demand  —  How  we  may 
retard  the  inevitable  fate  of  Nations  —  The  consent  of  all  parties  inte- 
rested necessary  to  the  Exodus. 

That  it  is  the  object  of  Colonization  to  elevate 
the  free  negro  to  a  social  standing,  where  he  can 
appreciate  and  enjoy  the  blessings  of  freedom,  I 
think  cannot  readily  be  denied ;  nor  will  any  one 
have  a  doubt  of  the  humanity  of  the  scheme.  Yet 
no  one  has  presented  or  jDroposed  a  plan  which  shall 
embrace  the  means  necessary  to  secure  the  political 
and  social  freedom  of  the  slave,  and  which  shall 
promise  a  definite  period  of  time,  however  remote, 
when  emancipation  in  the  United  States  shall  be 
consummated  upon  the  broadest  base  of  charity, 
philanthropy,  and  justice.  To  this  end  it  is  my 
desire  to  direct  my  feeble  efforts.  If  I  may  be 
permitted  to  set  the  wedge  that  more  powerful  arms 
than  mine  shall  drive  home  to  the  riving  of  the  log 
of  slavery,  this  is  all  I  ask ;  for,  in  so  good  a  cause,  to 
c 


34  0  U  R     W  II  0  L  E     D  U  T  Y 

be  even  allowed  to  hold  the  wedge  in  the  right  place 
—  in  the  right  end  of  tlie  log  —  while  others  per- 
form the  more  important  part  of  the  duty,  is  an 
honour  I  should  be  proud  of.  To  point  out  the 
proper  application  of  means  to  the  end  in  this  great 
work,  would  be  glory  enough  for  one  life,  and  I 
might  proceed,  without  any  further  remarks,  to  the 
elucidation  of  the  subject ;  but,  before  doing  so,  it 
will  be  right  to  examine  into  some  of  the  reasons 
why  we  ought  to  employ  every  means  in  our  power, 
whether  public  or  private,  or  both  combined,  in  the 
accomplishment  of  emancipation.  The  reasons 
which  would  probably  press  upon  us  with  the  most 
force,  might  be  deduced  from  studying  the  calamities 
brought  upon  some  of  the  other  nations  of  the 
earth,  both  ancient  and  modern,  which  have  stood 
in  close  relation  with  slavery.  By  looking  at  this 
subject  through  the  experience  of  these  nations,  we 
might  perceive,  not  only  our  own  position  and  pro- 
bable fate,  but  also  the  right  direction  of  the  line 
of  duty,  in  securing  safety  and  happiness  for  our- 
selves. In  seeking  for  this  line  by  the  light  of  his- 
toric experience,  it  is  not  my  intention  at  present 
to  allude  to  more  than  a  single  example,  in  proof 
of  the  fact  that  slavery  is  an  evil  which  ouglit  to  be 
avoided  or  abolished,  in  order  to  avert  the  calami- 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAX.  oO 

ties  which  have  been,  and  ever  must  continue, 
inseparably  connected  with  it. 

In  whatever  light,  for  example,  we  may  view  the 
bondage  of  the  house  of  Jacob,  either  in  a  political, 
moral,  or  religious  sense,  one  thing  is  certain,  that 
the  mighty  hand  of  God  was  in  it  from  the  begin- 
ning, doubtless  for  the  working  out  the  good  of 
mankind  upon  earth,  to  the  latest  generations,  pro- 
vided the  great  lessons  taught  in  these  events  should 
be  regarded  in  their  true  light  by  the  species.  How- 
ever mysterious  it  may  seem,  that  the  buying  of  a 
single  man  into  slavery  should  bring  about,  in  the 
course  of  time,  and  by  a  long  series  of  natural  and 
political  sequences,  a  vengeance,  through  the  imme- 
diate agency  and  expressed  will  of  the  almight}^ 
God,  more  terrific  and  appalling  than  any  other 
event  in  the  history  of  the  world,  yet  this  is  a 
historical  fact;  and,  however  incomprehensible  it 
may  seem  to  be  from  the  beginning,  the  conneotiuu 
of  the  Israelite  wdth  the  Egyptian,  is,  nevertheles.s, 
recorded  in  the  book  which  also  lays  down  the  law 
of  man's  duty  to  God ;  a  book  which,  from  that  da}"- 
to  this,  has  been  held  sacred  in  the  hands  of  a  God- 
loving  and  God-abiding  people,  as  prescribing  the 
right  rule  of  conduct  towards  both  the.  Creator  and 
his  creatures. 

But  the  events  which  led  to  the  final  catastrophe 


30  OURWHOLEDUTY 

of  Egypt,  were  such  that  they  at  once  appeal  to  the 
comprehensive  power  of  human  reason,  which  has 
been  rendered  by  the  Creator  fully  competent  to 
fathom  the  immutable  laws  of  cause  and  effect  — 
laws  bearing  alike,  and  without  change,  upon  all 
questions  throughout  the  whole  moral  and  physical 
world.  Man,  being  endowed  with  an  intellect  which 
excites  him  to  the  divination  of  cause  and  effect, 
he  may  analyse  seeming  mysteries,  and  aim  at  the 
comprehension  of  the  workings  of  the  universe ; 
and  he  has  power  to  understand  all  things  affecting 
himself  or  his  interests,  for  good  or  for  evil.  If  he 
err,  the  only  apology  which  he  can  make  for  his 
errors  will  be  found  in  the  culpable  prostitution  of 
his  high  endowments.  Such  an  apology  is  but  an 
acknowledgment  of  wrong. 

Once  comprehending  and  acknowledging  the  great 
truth,  that  a  combination  of  like  circumstances  will 
produce  absolutely  and  invariably  the  like  effects, 
then  will  human  reason  read  the  full  meaning  of 
Israelitic  bondage  and  Egyptian  calamity,  as  a 
monument  reared  by  God  himself,  upon  which  is 
inscribed  the  rule  of  conduct  for  nations  and  indi- 
viduals; pointing  for  good  in  one  direction,  and 
towards  evil  consequences  in  the  other.  The 
oppressor  never  escapes  the  punishment  of  his 
oppression,  nor  can  benevolence  fail  to  receive  the  re- 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  37 

ward  of  its  well-doing;  though.  God  employs  both 
for  his  own  wise  purposes. 

Human  reason,  then,  in  all  cases  in  which  results 
are  to  be  divined,  erects  for  itself  some  standard  or 
law  by  which  it  can  establish,  after  making  due 
allowance  for  variation  of  circumstances,  the  proper 
conclusion  or  prophetic  anticipation,  in  relation  to 
the  truth  or  fact  at  which  it  aims.  Hence,  in  pre- 
judging the  necessary  results  of  American  slavery, 
we  should  at  once  compare  it  with  the  causes  and 
circumstances  by  which  the  institution  has  been 
surrounded,  in  other  times  and  other  places,  in  order 
to  arrive  at  the  effects  it  must  inevitably  produce 
hereafter  upon  both  master  and  slave.  Thus,  taking 
Egyptian  bondage  as  a  test  of  slavery,  or  as  a  guide 
to  the  results  of  slavery  in  other  places,  and,  in 
order  to  arrive  at  just  and  truthful  conclusions,  we 
note  the  prominent  facts  in  relation  to  it,  such  as 
these — Joseph  was  sold  into  bondage  by  his  brethren ; 
Joseph,  as  a  slave,  performs  good  service  for  his 
masters,  and  renders  to  the  Egyptians  services  by 
which  their  wealth  and  comforts  are  vastly  increased 
above  those  of  the  surrounding  nations.  In  the 
course  of  time,  Joseph's  kindred  come  into  Egypt 
also ;  they  partake  of  the  vast  advantages  of  which 
the  Egyptians  are  in  possession,  and  remain  in  the 
country  about  four  hundred   years,   all   the   while 


3S  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

improving  their  condition  for  the  great  work  to 
which,  as  a  people,  they  were  appointed.  The 
Egyptians,  upon  the  other  hand,  were  made  to 
prosper  and  grow  rich,  by  the  benefits  they  derived 
from  the  labour  of  the  bondmen,  who,  from  the 
beginning,  advanced  rapidly  in  civilization.  With 
the  rapid  increase  of  the  numbers  of  the  bondmen, 
increased  the  exactions  of  their  masters,  in  support 
of  idleness,  vicious  habits,  and  licentious  indulgences, 
until  a  separation  of  master  and  bondmen  took 
place,  bringing  with  it  unspeakable  calamities.  Here 
then  we  have  an  array  of  circumstances,  all  tending 
to  a  fi^nal  separation  of  master  and  slave.  And  if 
we  could  find  a  combination  of  precisely  like  cir- 
cumstances in  another  place,  we  should  be  at  no  loss 
in  judging  of  the  result. 

Should  Egypt,  however,  be  raised  as  a  standard 
by  which  you  would  ascertain  the  probable  results 
of  slavery  in  this  or  any  other  country,  you  would 
necessarily  compare  circumstances,  and  allow  for  all 
the  modifications,  as  they  should  appear  more  or  less 
aggravating  in  character. 

Thus,  whe*  we  inquire  into  the  subject  of  slavery 
in  our  own  land,  we  find  that  the  slave  brought  into 
this  country  was  bought  from  his  brother ;  that  he 
rendered  himself  useful  here,  to  enrich  his  master; 
that  he  laboured  here  to  secure  his  comforts;  that 


TO    THE     BLACK    MAN.  39 

his  labours  were  valuable  to  such  an  extent,  that 
his  brother  was  hunted  down  like  a  wild  beast,  upon 
the  soil  of  his  birth,  made  captive,  and  brought  here 
to  enrich  the  master.  This  is  an  aggravated  circum- 
stance compared  with  anything  that  occurred  in 
Egypt.  He  has  remained  here  more  than  two  hun- 
dred years;  he  has  increased,  by  his  labour,  the 
wealth  of  the  nation ;  with  the  increase  of  his  num- 
bers, and  the  amount  of  his  labour,  increases  the 
desire  of  the  nation  to  make  a  display  of  wealth, 
and  riot  in  the  indulgence  of  idleness,  vice,  and 
licentiousness;  and  with  this  desire,  like  the  Egyp- 
tians, we  exact  the  full  toll  of"  brick  without  straw;" 
nor  do  we  relax  in  the  oppression  under  which  his 
voice  is  daily  raised  on  high,  calling  aloud  for  a 
release  from  bondage.  Comparisons  are  said  to  be 
odious,  but  if  we  can  proceed  one  step  further,  and 
believe  that  this  nation  is  called  upon  to  release  the 
African  from  bondage,  with  as  loud  a  voice  as  Moses 
called  upon  Pharaoh  to  let  his  people  depart  to  their 
own  land  —  if  we  can  believe  that  they  have  been 
allowed  to  sojourn  here  for  their  improvement  and 
their  own  good,  so  as  to  enable  them  to-redeem  their 
own  nation  from  depravity;  and  if  we  shall  still 
refuse  to  make  any  return  for  the  services  they  have 
rendered    us  —  then   it   alone   remains   for   human 


40  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

reason  to  draw  the  conclusion.     The  result  will  not 
appear  to  be  miraculous. 

Human  reason  ought  to  teach  wisdom.  So  it  does. 
Errors  grow  out  of  a  wilful  disregard  of  our  own 
experience,  and  the  experience  of  others.  That 
course  of  conduct  which  lowers  self-respect,  and 
injures  others,  is  never  maintained  and  persisted  in, 
except  from  some  slavish  habit  of  indulgence  that 
cannot  be  laid  aside  without  a  sacrijfice.  And  if 
persisted  in,  such  habits  grow  more  pernicious  daily. 
The  end  is  utter  depravity  and  a  premature  death. 
Youth  aims  at  good ;  age  too  often  becomes  depraved, 
and  cherishes  depravity  with  all  its  pernicious  influ- 
ences, for  the  gratification  of  self.  The  child  never 
intentionally  practices  that  which  is  hurtful  to  itself, 
but  avoids  it.  Thus,  from  the  moment  its  intellect 
begins  to  be  developed,  it  judges  and  reasons  from 
the  circumstances  which  surround  it,  for  good  or 
harm  to  itself;  it  learns  to  love  its  mother,  and  all 
who  minister  to  its  comforts,  for  the  good  it  expe- 
riences from  them.  In  all  things  which  give  it  pain, 
it  immediately  reasons  upon  effect;  and  whilst  it 
cherishes  good,  it  avoids  evil,  upon  the  innate  prin- 
ciple of  self-preservation.  That  which  is  of  the 
most  service  to  it  is,  that  it  profits  by  experience, 
which  mature  aure   often  refuses  to  do.     Thus  the 


TOTHEBLACKMAN.  41 

teachings  of  babes  are  worthy  to  be  iniitated  by  men 
—  by  nations. 

What  was  it  that  induced  our  patriotic  sires  to 
estabhsh  a  representative  form  of  government,  except 
to  avoid  the  evils  which  follow  in  the  train  of 
despotism  ?  Some  of  those  evils  they  experienced 
in  themselves,  and  no  higher  wisdom  than  that  of 
the  child  led  them  to  avoid  these  in  the  future. 
Besides,  they  had  the  teachings  of  history ;  and  in 
their  wisdom  they  profited  by  these  teachings.  Nor 
was  this  all :  they  made  sacrifices  of  all  their  com- 
forts to  attain  the  highest  good  for  their  country, 
to  which  they  pledged  life,  fortune,  and  honour ! 
History  cannot  point  to  another  and  so  glorious  an 
example  of  self-denial.  The  nations  of  the  future 
may  profit  by  it,  if  they  are  wise.  But,  to  such  as 
are  incapable  of  denying  themselves  pernicious 
gratifications,  the  example  will  be  of  no  avail,  be- 
cause such  sacrifices  lie  at  the  root  of  the  example. 
To  the  attainment  of  a  highly  useful,  moral,  and 
honourable  standing,  the  line  of  conduct  for  an 
individual  is  plainly  laid  down  in  the  story  of  our 
founders.  Nor  is  this  line  of  conduct  less  strongly 
marked  for  a  nation. 

The  great  men  of  the  revolution,  of  whom  we 
are  so  proud,  raised  a  new  standard  for  the  govern- 
ment  of  a   people.     Not  without   an   effort  —  not 


42  OURWIIOLEDUTT 

without  hope.  The  hopes  were  for  good,  becaiwe 
the}'  determined  in  themselves  to  sacrifice  the  power 
which  oppressed  them  from  abroad.  By  their 
efforts,  they  had  to  contend  against  a  determined 
foreign  foe,  and  the  folly,  ignorance,  and  selfishness 
of  too  many  at  home.  But,  whatever  the  sacrifices 
or  efforts  they  may  have  made,  their  success  elevated 
them  to  a  point  in  the  temple  of  fame,  where  they 
receive  the  award  of  having  achieved  the  highest 
deeds  for  humanity.  Their  history  commences  a 
new  era  in  the  history  of  nations.  Shall  we  forget 
that  we  are  the  sons  of  those  self-sacrificing  patriots  ? 
Shall  we  be  satisfied  with  the  light  their  glory 
throws  around  us,  when  we  too  are  privileged  to 
make  sacrifices,  and  when  humanity  pleads  as 
strongly  in  favour  of  the  oppressed  with  us  as  it  did 
with  our  patriotic  progenitors  ?  Shall  we  forget ; 
I  say,  shall  we  forget  that  we  are  the  sons  of  such 
sires  ?  "  Honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother,  that 
thy  days  may  be  long  in  the  land  which  the  Lord 
thy  God  giveth  thee." 

If  we  have  received  good  things  from  our  ances- 
tors, and  they  are  glorified  in  having  obtained  them 
for  us,  how  much  will  their  glory  and  our  own  be 
enhanced  by  showing  to  the  world  that  we  know 
how  to  use  them  !  Let  us  make  the  sacrifice  which 
we  are  called  upon  to  make,  in  the  emancipation  of 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  4o 

the  African  race  within  the  United  States,  and  we 
shall  be  raised  in  the  temple  of  fame  to  a  level  with 
our  ancestors.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  son  was  not 
unmindful  of  the  teachings  and  example  set  by  the 
father. 

What  are  the  sacrifices  we  shall  have  to  make? 
Not  that  of  money  !  I  think  I  can  show  that  eman- 
cipating the  slave  and  colonizing  Africa  will  make 
us  richer ;  as  all  good  works  will  enhance  the  riches 
of  an  individual.  The  sacrifices  we  shall  be  called 
upon  to  make  will  be  in  tilings  wJdch  lead  to  a  mis- 
application  of  wealth,  in  a  manner  tending  to  licen- 
tious and  vicious  habits.  To  guard  against  such 
tendencies  will  always  be  profitable  for  a  nation. 

Is  the  bondage  of  Africa  in  this  our  favoured  land 
less  burdensome  than  was  that  in  Egypt  ?  No ! 
More  bearable  in  any  respect  ?  No  !  On  the  con- 
trary, it  is  of  a  more  aggravated  character — sever- 
ing the  closest  ties  of  nature  —  producing  a  degree 
of  lamentation  that  doubtless  raises  its  voice  as  high 
as  the  heavens.  Has  not  the  Colonization  Society, 
like  Moses  in  Egypt,  supplicated  for  a  return  of  the 
children  of  Africa  to  their  own  land  ?  And  have 
we  not  hardened  our  hearts  against  this  appeal? 
And  are  we  not,  like  Pharaoh,  rioting  in  wealth,  and 
luxury,  and  licentiousness,  by  means  of  the  labour 
of  the  African,  whose  "  life  is  made  bitter  with  hard 


44  OURWHOLEDUTY 

bondage?"  The  Egyptians  had  secured  wealth 
sufficient  from,  the  labour  of  the  bondman,  to  have 
sent  him  to  a  land  which  was,  to  him,  a  land  of 
promise.  So  have  we  wealth  by  millions,  secured  to 
us  by  the  labour  of  the  bondman,  all  sufficient  to 
send  him  home.  But  here  let  the  parallel  stop  :  to 
carry  it  further  would  be  to  encounter  the  wrath  of 
the  Almighty,  to  avert  which,  let  us,  with  one  heart 
and  one  mind,  do  what  our  reason  teaches  us  it 
would  be  right  to  do,  and  dispose  of  a  little  of  that 
wealth  which  is  now  squandered  in  the  promotion 
of  idleness,  and  too  often  used  in  securing  vicious 
indulgences,  by  an  appropriation  of  a  part  of  it  for 
the  purpose  of  sending  the  Negro  home  to  the  land 
of  his  fathers. 

The  history  of  every  nation  upon  earth  which 
has  indulged  slavery  in  its  worst  forms,  is  written 
nearly  in  the  same  language,  and  in  one  or  two  sen- 
tences :  —  their  rise  in  wealth  and  luxury  —  their 
progress  in  licentiousness  —  and  their  utter  desola- 
tion ;  their  whole  course  only  marked  by  a  variety 
of  circumstances,  all  alike  tending  to  a  dishonour- 
able grave.  Permit  us  to  hope  that  the  United 
States  will  not  only  avoid  this  rock  of  slavery,  upon 
which  she  may  be  wrecked,  but  all  other  causes 
M'hich  have  strong  tendencies  to  subvert   empires. 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  45 

Who  can  doubt  her  destiny,  if  her  high  mission  is 
controlled  by  principle  ? 

That  nations,  like  individuals,  are  in  strict  account- 
ability to  the  laws  of  God,  will  not  be  denied.  Nor 
is  it  necessary  or  germain  to  my  purpose  to  cite  the 
many  occurrences  which  have  transpired  in  the 
downfall  and  utter  desolation  of  nations,  since  the 
days  of  Egypt,  to  sustain  the  position.  I  claim  that 
a  maintenance  of  sobriety,  honesty,  justice,  human- 
ity, and  economy  are  as  necessary  to  the  character 
of  a  nation,  as  the  same  virtues  are  to  the  honour- 
able standing  of  an  individual. 

The  rise  and  fall  of  nations,  from  the  days  of 
Egypt  down  to  the  present  time,  are  full  of  instruc- 
tion to  us.  These  changes,  regulated  by  the  immut- 
able laws  of  cause  and  effect,  indicate  for  us  the 
right  and  straight  way  wherein  we  must  move,  if 
we  would  secure  to  ourselves  the  power  to  maintain 
in  pristine  vigour  the  full  benefit  of  our  institutions, 
and  to  our  posterity,  upon  each  succeeding  anniver- 
sary of  our  independence,  the  power  to  proclaim  to 
all  nations  of  the  earth,  that  man  is  capable  of  self- 
government. 

Our  theory  leaves  the  individual  conscience  free 
to  choose  the  right  and  eschew  the  wrong,  according 
to  the  spirit  of  Christianity.  In  a  system  founded 
upon  such  a  principle,  universal  good  must  prevail ; 


46  OURTVIIOLEDUTY 

for,  where  the  citizen  is  soverei2;ii  in  all  thinccs,  and 
where  equal  rights  are  really  secured  to  all,  the 
highest  order  of  human  government  is  attained. 
But,  let  the  poison  of  legislative  inconsistency  de- 
form this  system — let  equality  of  rights  be  trampled 
under  foot  in  relation  to  either  race  or  caste  —  and 
history  teaches  another  lesson.  The  worm  is  then 
in  the  bud,  and  the  fruit  must  wither.  The  hand- 
writing is  on  the  wall,  in  characters  so  bold,  that 
none  but  the  blind,  the  infatuated,  the  reckless,  can 
fail  to  perceive  the  finger  of  prophecy,  tracing  on 
the  sands  of  time  the  horrible  phantom  of  desola- 
tion, brooding  over  the  grave  of  power  and  the 
ruins  of  glory.  To  profit  by  the  experience  of  na- 
tions, is  the  part  of  humanity,  justice,  and  common 
sense.  To  shun  the  evils  inevitably  resulting  from 
profligacy,  idleness,  and  licentious  debauchery  — the 
back-blow  of  the  oppressed  against  the  oppressor — 
is  no  more  the  duty  of  the  wdse  and  patriotic,  the 
shrewd  and  cautious,  than  a  natural  prompting  of 
the  instinct  of  self-preservation. 

In  relation  to  slavery,  there  is  no  period  of  time 
in  the  world's  history  from  which  more  light  can  be 
elicited  than  the  period  of  the  Israelitic  captivity; 
and  many  of  the  chief  features  and  consequences 
of  this  peculiar  example  of  bondage  will  apply  with 
startling  force  to  this  evil  as  it  now  exists  in  the 


T  0     T  n  E     B  L  A  C  K     M  A  N  .  47 

United  States.  That  God  will  assuredly  raise  a 
mighty  hand  for  the  delivery  of  the  oppressed,  now 
as  then;  that  he  will  as  assuredly  punish  now  as 
then,  the  human  power  that  resists  his  will,  when, 
with  the  scales  of  justice  in  his  hand,  he  thunders 
from  the  mercy-seat,  "  Give  freedom  to  the  slave ;" 
that  the  exodus  will  follow  the  genesis,  in  this  great 
work,  and  that  both  are  parcels  of  his  one  great  plan, 
he  that  denies  is  mad.  Shall  we  obey  his  fiat  peace- 
ably while  we  may  ?  or  shall  w^e  pursue  the  pillar 
of  cloud  and  pillar  of  flame,  to  the  great  red  sea  of 
our  destiny  ? 

That  distinct  races  of  men  cannot  inhabit  the 
same  country  upon  equal  terms,  and  that  the  violent 
separation  of  master  and  slave  carries  with  it  evils 
of  the  most  terrifying  character,  are  facts  which 
American  experience  distinctly  proves.  May  we, 
with  anxious  solicitude,  implore  a  wise  and  most 
merciful  God,  who  has  vouchsafed  to  us  so  many 
blessings,  and  given  us  such  abundant  cause  for 
thankfulness,  that  he  may  guide  us  in  the  right  w^ay 
—  a  way  in  which  we  cannot  err  —  so  that  we  may 
provide  the  means  for  the  release  of  the  bondman 
from  captivity.  And  if  we  should  fail,  as  a  nation, 
to  do  all  that  is  in  our  power  for  this  great  end,  may 
lie  still,  in  the  continuance   of  this   mercy,    avert 


48  OURWHOLEDUTY 

from  us  evils  of  such  magnitude  as  despoiled  and 
inundated  Egypt;  such  evils  as  have  connected 
themselves  with  the  downfall  of  every  other  nation 
upon  earth  that  has  fostered  slavery  beyond  the 
point  of  the  Divine  intention ;  evils  which,  when 
measured  by  the  short  span  of  human  wisdom, 
appear  to  be  the  result  of  the  violent  separation  of  mas- 
ter and  slave.  Therefore,  whenever  this  separation 
shall  be  determined  upon  here,  reason  will  dictate 
for  our  own  benefit,  and  especially  for  that  of  the 
slave,  that  it  ought  to  be  effected  with  the  mutual 
consent  and  approval  of  all  parties  interested.  Such 
are  the  admonitions  of  history;  but  even  indepen- 
dently of  these  teachings,  self-respect,  and  the  high 
behests  of  humanity  should  be  a  sufficient  induce- 
ment for  emancipation.  We  claim  to  raise  a  stan- 
dard of  equality  in  our  Government,  by  which  other 
nations  may  profit.  Let  us,  then,  make  our  whole 
conduct  worthy  of  example.  It  is  true,  that,  as  a 
people,  we  claim  to  be  highly  favoured.  We  enjoy 
that  liberty  by  which  all  are  allowed  to  converse 
with  God,  each  in  his  own  good  time  and  in  his  own 
way,  with  a  conscience  free  from  molestation,  except 
the  2^oor  African.  He  alone  has  no  abiding  place 
amongst  us,  where  he  can  lay  down  his  head,  and 
rest  in  the  consciousness  that  he  too  is  free  to  come 
and  go,  and  enjoy  all  the  blessings  by  which  his  fel- 


TOTHEBLACKMAN.  49 

low  men  are  surrounded.  Alas !  this  is  the  land 
where  the  African  (whether  bond  or  free)  is  bound 
to  render  a  full  account  of  his  brick.  His  home  is 
not  here.  He,  like  the  Israelite,  must  look  to  a  land 
of  promise.  But  in  Africa  he,  too,  will  have  a 
nationality  of  character.  May  his  departure  froi.i 
shores  alien  and  unkind  to  him  alone,  render  liim 
great  and  happy  in  the  future  ! 


50  OURWHOLEDUTT 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  PUBLIC   DOMAIN  A  MEANS  FOR  EMANCIPATION. 

Degndmg  Effects  of  the  Mism&Dagement  of  the  Public  Domain  —  De- 
Bcription,  History,  uad  Extent  of  the  Domain — Abuses  and  Proper 
Uses  of  the  Dom&in  —  Congress  incapable  of  properly  managing  the 
Domain. 

If  it  be  our  duty  to  send  the  African  bondman  to 
illuminate  the  darkness  of  his  fatherland  with  the 
moral  light  which  he  has  acquired  from  merely 
looking  upon  a  liberty  that  he  is  not  permitted 
to  share  — if  it  be  our  duty  to  do  this  with  a  por- 
tion of  that  wealth  to  which  his  compulsory  labour 
has  so  largely  contributed — it  behoves  us  to  inquire 
from  what  part  of  the  national  resources  the  neces- 
sary means  can  be,  or  should  be  appropriated.  Let 
us,  with  this  view,  devote  the  present  chapter  to  the 
consideration  of  the  extent  and  character  of  that 
richest  of  all  American  possessions,  the  Pullic 
Domain,  and  the  abuses  practised  upon  it. 

When  the  policy  or  the  construction  of  a  Govern- 
ment gives  impunity  to   outrage,  whether   from  a 


TOTHEBLACKMAX.  ul 

desire  to  encourage,  or  an  inability  to  check  it,  the 
tendency  of  that  Government  is  towards  decay  and 
ruin.  Already  we  are  prating  of  the  rapid  acquisi- 
tion of  territories  inhabited  by  a  people  differing 
from  us  in  language  and  religion  —  a  people  who 
cannot  be  made  readily  to  understand  the  spirit  of 
our  institutions.  What  the  Government  does  not 
attempt,  in  this  direction,  the  people  do ;  and  how- 
ever lawless  may  be  the  manner  of  satisfying  this 
desire  for  acquisition  by  means  dishonourable  and 
illegal,  the  Government  cannot,  or  will  not  arrest 
the  motion,  until  the  adventurer  becomes  familiar 
with  lawlessness.  The  dream  of  "  manifest  destin}^" 
(I  do  not  deny  that  dreams  often  come  true)  is  caus- 
ing us  to  forget  that  our  dominion  may  be  extended 
beyond  the  point  at  which  laws  can  be  carried  into 
effect,  in  a  country  of  immense  expansion  a.nd 
sparse  population.  We  are  on  the  point  of  losing, 
if  we  have  not  already  lost,  for  the  time,  the  power 
which  adds  most  to  the  respectability  of  a  nation, — 
tlie  power  to  execute  the  laws ;  also,  the  far  more  im- 
portant power  of  protecting,  as  a  sacred  trust,  the 
interests  of  the  future.  To  this  unhaj^py  consum- 
mation we  are  rapidly  approximating ;  so  that,  to 
provide  for  the  licentious  will  soon  be  the  chief  occu- 
pation of  Government,  and  individual  rights  in 
person  or  property  will  soon  cease  to  be  maintained. 


52  0  U  R     W  II  0  L  E     D  U  T  Y 

The  lawlessness  of  the  adventurer  even  now  can 
scarcely  be  punished,  especially  for  the  crime  of 
trespassing  upon  the  territory  and  robbing  the  indi- 
viduals of  the  adjoining  States.  Nor  is  this  all. 
He  cannot  be  reached  for  putting  a  whole  nation  in 
motion  to  resist  his  barbarities,  practised  against  a 
friendly  power.  The  barbarities  which  the  savages 
of  the  American  forests  have  committed  upon  us, 
in  point  of  turpitude  and  crime,  fall  far  short  of  our 
unprovoked  plunder  of  a  friendly  nation,  which, 
though  boastful,  is  too  feeble  to  punish. 

When  a  state  will  not,  or  cannot  punish  depreda- 
tions upon  public  property,  then,  just  in  proportion 
to  the  value  of  this  property,  it  will  be  seized  upon 
by  the  lawless  adventurer.  He  will  claim  it  as  his 
own,  independently  of  all  rigljts  of  society,  and,  by 
an  immoral  contagion,  his  example  will  rapidly  con- 
taminate the  whole  community.  The  demagogue, 
who  is  too  often  appointed  to  judge  of  these  rights, 
and  is  sworn  to  administer  the  fundamental  laws  of 
the  country  justly,  pronounces  the  usurpation  war- 
rantable, in  order  to  maintain  an  ephemeral  popu- 
larity ;  and,  to  this  end,  regardless  of  the  public 
good,  he  will  strain  his  limited  ability  to  legislate 
for  personal  advantages,  in  opposition  to  tlie  rights 
of  society.  Such  is  our  experience  in  the  acquisition 
of  territory.     Public  lands  are,  upon  this  principle 


TOTHEBLACKMAN.  53 

of  legislation,  voted  away  by  our  Government  for 
all  manner  of  purposes,  upon  any  and  every  pretext, 
regardless  of  the  benefits  which  the  proceeds  of  these 
lands  would  yield,  if  expended  upon  objects  con- 
ducive to  the  future  interests  of  the  people.  The 
right  of  such  a  Government  to  hold  out  its  system 
as  an  example  to  other  realms,  is  gone.  As  well 
might  the  prodigal  claim  to  be  an  economist :  as 
well  might  the  extortioner  claim  to  be  just.  The 
father  of  a  family  may  permit  one  son  to  destroy 
the  property  of  his  neighbour ;  another,  to  rob  him 
of  his  own ;  a  third,  to  establish  himself  upon  the 
patrimonial  acres,  in  defiance  of  his  laws  for  the 
benefit  of  the  whole  family ;  and  altogether,  to  use 
up  the  whole  estate  in  the  purchase  of  as  much  as 
it  will  buy  in  matters  of  luxury,  and  then  run  in 
debt.  He  may  do  all  this,  while  indulging  a  morbid 
desire  to  give  away  his  lands  to  every  stranger 
that  approaches  him !  But  what  should  we  say 
to  the  insane  folly  of  such  a  parent  ?  Would  we 
allow  his  proud  claim  to  be  a  sound  practical  exam- 
ple to  others  ?  It  would  be  folly  to  hope,  on  behalf 
of  a  nation  powerless  to  enforce  its  laws  for  the 
regulation  of  property,  an  escape  from  the  fate  which 
must  inevitably  fall  upon  a  family  governed  in 
defiance  of  all  inorality,  honesty,  justice,  and 
economy. 


54  OURTTHOLEDUTY 

Wealth,  in  a  nation  or  an  individual,  cannot  be 
detrimental  where  its  true  value  is  understood, 
where  it  is  properly  appreciated  for  its  usefulness  in 
supplying  present  wants  and  securing  future  benefits. 
Thus  used,  it  adds  true  honour,  power,  and  glory  to 
the  nation ;  it  is  worse  than  useless  when  its  appli- 
cation fails  to  do  good,  and  it  is  expended  in  genera- 
ting evils  prejudicial  to  the  best  interests  of  the 
people. 

The  question  may  be  asked,  honestly  and  fairly, 
whether  we  have  not  arrived  at  that  point  in  the 
progress  of  our  Government,  when  the  wealth  of  a 
nation  begins  to  foster  evils,  such  as  neither  morality 
nor  patriotism  can  sanction. 

Henceforth,  the  tendency  of  American  glory  is 
downward,  unless  we  come  to  a  pause,  and  reflect 
upon  the  causes  which  have  sunk  us  already  so  low ; 
unless  we  cease  to  be  dazzled  by  the  glare  of  the 
expiring  lamp  —  the  unnatural  accession  of  glory 
and  power  which  has  invariably  marked  the 
approach  of  the  decline  of  empires,  like  the  glow 
on  the  cheek  of  consumption,  which  gives  a  bright- 
ness to  fading  life,  but  owes  its  very  existence  to 
corruption  and  decay  within. 

The  time  has  arrived  when  the  genuine  patriot, 
wherever  he  may  be  found — in  the  halls  of  Congress, 
in  the  capitols  of  states,  the  wild  forest,  the  cultivated 


TOTIIEBLACKMAN.  55 

farm,  or  the  private  study,  in  whose  tempered  light 
the  abstract  thinker  calls  up  the  spirits  of  the 
buried  great,  or  the  poet-seer  reads  the  shadows  of 
coming  events  —  must  rally  to  the  rescue.  They 
must  unite  as  one  man  in  seeking  out  nobler  pur- 
poses to  engage  the  efforts  of  our  statesmen.  All  ! 
ALL !  are  bound  at  this  moment, — 

"  Big  with  the  fate  of  Caesar  and  of  Rome," 

which  is  destined  to  determine  the  life  or  death,  the 
glory  or  shame,  of  our  country  —  to  aid  in  the 
establishment  of  such  a  policy  as  shall  give  profitable 
and  salutary  direction  to  the  wealth,  power,  and 
influence  of  the  nation,  and  check  the  progress  of 
those  social  poisons  that  sparkle  to  destroy. 

Brightest  among  all  our  possessions,  most  tempting, 
most  corrupting,  by  the  struggles  it  engenders  for 
its  divisions  and  spoils,  lies  the  Public  Domain.  How 
shall  we  convert  it  from  an  instrument  of  corrup- 
tion and  decay,  into  a  lever  for  effecting  sound 
national  advancement. 

Of  all  our  national  burdens,  the  curse  of  slavery 
stands  pre-eminent.  To  what  nobler  purpose  can 
we  devote  a  fair  share  of  the  proceeds  of  our  almost 
unlimited  possessions,  than  to  the  gradual  and  safe, 
the  jrist  removal  of  that  curse  ?  What,  then,  \a  the 
Public  Domain  ? 


56  OURWHOLEDUTY 

All  the  territory  of  the  United  States  which  lies 
beyond,  or  outside  of  the  original  boundaries  of  the 
old  thirteen  states,  except  the  "  Western  Reserve,'' 
the  Virginian  Military  Reserve  in  Ohio,  and  such 
portions  of  our  more  recent  acquisitions  by  purchase 
or  conquest  as  were  legally  in  the  possession  of 
private  individuals  of  a  civilized  race  at  the  time 
of  annexation,  have  been  part  and  parcel  of  the 
public  domain.  What  is  termed  the  "triangle"  in 
Pennsylvania,  (part  of  the  county  of  Erie,)  was 
also  at  one  time  a  part  of  it.*  Conflicting  titles, 
growing  out  of  the  ignorance  of  geography  at  the 
time  of  the  granting  of  the  royal  charters  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, Connecticut,  New  York,  Virginia,  North 
Carolina,  and  Georgia,  (nearly  all  of  which  claimed 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,)  covered  nearly  all 
the  territory  west  of  these  states,  as  far  as  the 
Mississippi  river,  beyond  which  tlie  claims  of  France 
and  Spain  interfered  with  all  the  English   titles.f 

*  The  "  triangle  "  was  claimed  by  Massachusetts  and  New  York. 
It  was  purchased  from  those  states  by  the  United  States,  and  sold  . 
to  Pennsylvania  in  1788,  at  eighty-seven  cents  per  acre,  to  give  this 
last-named  state  a  frontier  on  the  lakes. 

f  New  York  had  an  indefinite  claim  to  all  the  territory  west  of  her 
limits.  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  claimed  all  that  lay  west  of 
their  respective  borders,  to  the  Pacific,  though  both  were  barred  by 
the  prior  claim  of  Holland  to  the  New  Netherlands,  now  New 
York,  and  hence  they  were  compelled  to  overleap  that  state.     The 


T  0     T  II  E     B  L  A  C  K     M  A  N  .  0  i 

The  disputes  between  the  states,  growing  out  of  this 
condition  of  things,  together  with  tlie  fears  of  the 
small  states,  (especially  Maryland,  who  dreaded  the 
seemingly  limitless  claim  of  Virginia,  and  her  im- 
pending power.)  induced  all  the  claimants  to  cede 
their  titles  to  the  United  States,  in  trust  for  the 
equal  benefit  of  all  the  states,  "  and  for  no  other  pur- 
jiose  whatever''''^  Connecticut  refused  to  cede  the 
Western  Keserve  in  Ohio,  and  was  permitted  to 
retain  it. 

From  the  states  of  Massachusetts,  New  Ham}> 
shire,  and  Virginia,  were  formed  those  of  Maine, 
Vermont,  and  Kentucky.  From  the  lands  trans- 
Connecticut  claim  also  brought  this  state  into  conflict  with  Pennsjl- 
vania,  and  hence  the  feuds  and  border  wars  of  Wyoming. 

The  Virginian  claim  extended  originally  westward,  at  right  angles 
to  the  coast,  and  so  to  the  Pacific.  Thus  it  covered  the  greater  part 
of  the  lands  west  of  Pennsylvania,  north  of  the  Ohio,  and  east 
of  the  Mississippi,  to  the  northern  boundary  of  the  United  States. 
Hence  all  these  claims  overlapped  each  other  to  a  vast  extent. 

*  The  terras  of  this  part  of  the  deed  of  cession  were  as  follows  :  — 

"All  the  lands  within  the  territory  so  ceded  to  the  United  States, 
and  not  reserved  or  appropriated  to  any  of  the  before-mentioned 
I'urposes,  or  disposed  of  in  bounties  to  the  officers  and  soldiers  of 
the  American  army,  shall  be  considered  as  a  common  fund  for  the 
use  and  benefit  of  such  of  the  states  as  have  become,  or  shall  be- 
come, members  of  the  confederation  or  federal  alliance  of  said 
states,  Virginia  inclusive,  according  to  their  respective  proportions 
in  the  general  expenditures,  and  shall  be  faithfully  and  bona  Jidc 
disposed  of  for  that  purpose,  and  no  other  purpose  whatever." 


08  OURWIIOLEDUTY 

ferred  to  the  United  States,  have  sprung  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  M"chigan,  and  Wisconsin.  By 
treaties  with  France  and  Spain,  the  annexation  of 
Texas,  and  conquest  from  Mexico,  we  have  since 
acquired  vast  territories  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
first  deed  of  trust,  but  not  the  less  virtually  bound 
by  the  same  restriction  to  the  equal  benefit  of  all  the 
states.  From  these  have  been  derived  the  states  of 
Tennessee,  Alabama,  Florida,  and  Mississippi,  with 
all  those  west  of  the  great  river  of  the  same  name. 
The  public  domain  may  now  be  defined  to  include 
all  the  land  that  is  unsold  or  unappropriated,  from 
the  northern  boundaries  of  Mexico  and  the  Gulf,  to 
the  49  th  degree  of  north  latitude,  and  from  the 
limits  of  the  thirteen  original  states,  to  the  Pacific 
ocean. 

I  am  not  enabled  to  lay  my  hand  upon  statistics 
showing  exactly  the  whole  amount  of  acres  within 
this  area;  but  I  shall  not  be  far  wrong  when  I  say 
that  it  contains  seventeen  hundred  millions  of  acres, 
probably  three  hundred  millions  of  which  have  been 
disposed  of  by  adjustment  in  the  settlement  of  claims, 
sales,  and  donations  to  states  for  school  purposes  and 
improvements,  leaving  on  hand  at  least  fourteen  hun- 
dred millions  of  acres,  either  to  be  converted  into 
means  for  effecting  national  good,  or  lavished,  as  is  now 


T  0    T  II  E     B  L  A  C  K    M  A  N  .  59 

contemplated  by  Congress,  on  actual  settlers,  as  a 
free  gift.* 

♦Virginia,  Massachusetts,  and  Connecticut  ceded  169,609,819 
acres;  Georgia,  58,898,522  acres;  and  North  and  South  Carolina, 
26,482,000  acres.  The  domain  was  enlarged  by  treaties  with  Great 
Britain  in  1783  and  1794,  and  with  Spain  in  1795  and  1819 ;  with 
France,  in  1803,  and  with  Mexico,  in  1848.  Before  the  purchase 
of  Florida,  when  bounded  by  49°  N.  lat.,  it  was  estimated 
at  1,242,792,673  acres,  of  which  there  remained  unsold  in  1843, 
1,084,064,993  acres. 

The  principal  appropriations  of  land  by  Congress,  prior  to  1843, 
were:  —  Every  sixteenth  section  in  each  county,  being  one  thirty- 
sixth  of  the  whole,  to  schools  in  the  new  states  :  one-twentieth  of 
the  land  for  roads  and  other  purposes :  6,000,000  acres  bounty 
land  in  aid  of  the  war  with  England,  with  special  grants  to  re- 
fugees from  Canada  and  Nova  Scotia;  to  the  State  of  Ohio,  for 
internal  improvements;  and  miscellaneous  grants  to  General  La- 
fayette, &c.,  in  all  amounting  to  about  33,000,000  acres.  New 
York  ceded  in  1781;  Virginia,  in  1784;  Massachusetts,  in  1785; 
Connecticut,  in  1786;  South  Carolina,  in  1787;  and  Georgia,  in 
1802.  Congress  commenced  legislating  on  the  public  lands  in 
1776;  but  the  states  claimed  the  right  of  soil  as  well  as  jurisdic- 
tion, and  objected  to  the  Congressional  action  till  the  cessions  were 
completed. 

Connecticut  reserved  to  herself  a  tract,  (the  Western  Reserve,) 
bounded  by  41°  N.  lat.,  and  extending  west,  from  the  Pennsylvania 
line,  120  miles.  Virginia  stipulated  for  a  security  for  the  old  French 
settlers  on  her  claim,  and  reserved  two  tracts,  one  of  150,000  acres 
near  the  rapids  of  the  Ohio,  the  other,  known  as  the  Military  Re- 
serve, between  the  little  Miami  and  Sciota  rivers,  for  her  soldiers 
of  the  Revolution.  Georgia  and  South  Carolina  ceded  the  Missis- 
sippi Territory,  from  N.  lat.  31°  to  N.  lat.  35°,  east  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, Georgia  receiving  therefor  1,250,000  dollars.  Georgia  also 
stipulated  for  the  extinction  of  the  Indian  titles  by  the  United 
States. 


GO  O  U  R     W  II  0  L  E     D  U  T  Y 

This  property  has  been  acquired  by  conquest  and 
purchase,  at  a  vast  sacrifice  of  blood  and  treasure. 
IIow  this  trust  is  carried  out,  we  shall  see.  Thus 
far,  all  the  money  received  for  land  which  has  been 
sold,  falls  far  short  of  the  price  it  cost,  in  wars,  in 
extinguishing  Indian  titles,  in  surveying,  and  in  fees 
to  land  officers  and  Indian  agents.  The  balance  has 
been  paid  by  a  tax,  bearing  upon  each  citizen  alike ; 
yet.  Congress  has  it  now  in  contemplation  to  give  the 
land  away  to  one  class  of  citizens  only ! 

This  domain  was  looked  upon,  in  the  early  history 
of  the  Government,  as  constituting  a  fund  of  inex- 
haustible riches,  for  carrying  into  effect  objects  of 
vast  interest  to  the  people,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
freeing  them  from  burdensome  taxes.  There  is  a 
value  in  this  domain,  if  properly  applied,  which 
would  relieve  taxation  in  many  important  ways. 
With  views  such  as  these  in  regard  to  the  public 
domain,  laws  were  passed,  immediately  upon  the 
adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
for  regulating  the  mode  of  securing  the  title  to  the 
purchaser ;  and  the  price  was  fixed  at  a  rate  deemed 
just,  both  towards  purchaser  and  seller.  But  it  was 
soon  found  that  in  the  passage  of  those  laws,  neither 
the  true  interests  of  the  domain  nor  those  of  the 
pu^  Mc  were  yet  understood. 

The  first  sales  of  land  by  the  Government  were, 


TO     TUE     DLACK     MAN.  Cl 

1,000,000  of  acres  to  John  Symes  &  Co.,  exclusive 
of  two  sections  for  religious  purposes ;  a  like  number 
to  the  Ohio  Company,  and  207,000  acres  to  the  State 
of  Pennsylvania — all  at  sixty-seven  cents  per  acre. 
Part  of  the  first  two  grants,  however,  reverted,  from 
the  inability  of  the  purchasers  to  meet  their  engage- 
ments in  full.  No  other  sales  were  made  in  less 
quantities  than  by  townships  or  entire  sections,  upon 
a  credit,  in  four  annual  instalments,  at  two  dollars 
per  acre.  That  which  gave  peculiar  value  to  con- 
tracts under  these  early  enactments  was,  that  the 
Government  obliged  itself  to  extinguish  all  Indian 
and  other  titles,  to  survey  the  lands,  and  to  set 
durable  landmarks,  so  that  when  the  purchaser  laid 
down  his  money,  he  received  an  indisputable  and 
perfectly  clear  title.  There  was  no  clashing  of 
boundary  lines. 

Changes,  with  regard  to  terms  of  sale  and  pa}'- 
ment,  have  since  been  made,  but  the  system  of 
location  and  title  remains  the  same  to  this  hour. 
How  pleasant  such  an  arrangement  must  seem  to 
the  man  who  has  paid  the  earnings  of  his  whole 
life  to  lawyers,  in  order  to  secure  his  land,  under  the 
land  warrant  act  of  Virginia,  in  the  Military  Re- 
serve in  the  State  of  Ohio,  where  no  such  security 
of  title  exists !  The  effect  of  this  system,  which 
allowed    each   man    to   claim    and  survey  his  own 


62  OURWUOLEDUTY 

u arrant,  was  to  cause  boundary  lines  to  overlap,  like 
shingles  in  the  roof  of  a  house.  It  was  soon  found 
that,  for  the  benefit  of  the  purchaser,  land  should 
be  sold  in  less  quantities  than  by  townships,  or  even 
sections.  Sales  of  half  and  quarter  sections  were 
then  legalized,  and  land  offices  were  established. 
But  even  the  quarter  sections  were  speedily  ascer- 
tained to  be  inconveniently  large;  and  it  was  also 
discovered  that  the  credit  system  did  not  work  well. 
It  so  encumbered  with  debt  the  settlers  of  a  new 
country  which  had  scarcely  any  roads,  and  no  out- 
lets to  market,  except  the  long  sweep  of  the  Missis- 
sippi river  to  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  that  they 
had  no  ability  to  pay.  The  Government,  claiming 
to  be  just,  and  exacting  justice  in  turn,  caused  a  vast 
deal  of  hardship  in  the  endeavour  to  collect  the 
instalments  due  on  such  purchases.  "When  it  was 
found  impracticable,  compromises  were  resorted  to ; 
and,  in  view  of  this  difficulty,  other  regulations  were 
adopted  which  cannot  be  surpassed  for  their  sim- 
plicity and  practical  utility.  The  law  of  1820 
repealed  all  other  laws  in  relation  to  the  sale  of  land, 
except  those  that  go  to  secure  the  most  admirable 
title  to  the  purchaser,  and  to  regulate  the  penalties 
that  had  been  provided  from  the  beginning  against 
trespassing  upon  public  property.  These  penalties 
were  increased,  and  the  United  States  Marshal  was 


TO    THE    BLA  CK     M  AX.  63 

required,  by  law,  more  strictly  to  enforce  them.  At 
this  time,  (only  thirty-four  years  ago,)  these  laws 
were  generally  respected ;  and  where  they  were  not, 
the  penalty  was  exacted;  and  this  continued  to  be  the 
case,  without  opposition  or  complaint  upon  the  part 
of  the  people,  until  the  administration  of  General 
Jackson,  when  pre-emption  laws,  passed  in  the  year 
1832,  led  to  the  defiance  of  the  national  authority, 
to  frauds  upon  the  Government,  by  obtaining  land 
under  false  pretences,  and  to  trespasses  upon  the 
rights  of  future  purchasers;  which  outrages  were 
perpetrated  with  impunity.  The  pre-emption  law 
required  the  raising  of  a  crop  to  secure  the  legality 
of  the  claim;  yet  the  spirit  of  the  law  was  evaded 
by  the  speculator.  A  small  portion  of  land  would 
be  enclosed,  say  within  four  pannels  of  fence,  by 
two  persons  living  at  a  distance  :  wheat  would  then 
be  sown  therein.  Next  harvest,  the  speculators 
would  return,  and  find  a  stalk  or  two  of  grain 
growing.  They  would  rub  this  grain  from  the 
chaff,  and  call  it  harvesting !  Thus,  by  complying 
with  the  letter  of  the  law,  in  violation  of  its  spirit, 
they  settled  their  consciences  in  swearing  each  other 
into  a  claim  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  each ! 
No  doubt  evasions  of  the  law  contemplating  the  free 
gift  of  homesteads,  will  be  practised  by  the  specu- 
lator in  like  manner,  if  that  law  should  be  enacted. 


C4  0  U  R    W  11  0  L  i:    D  U  T  Y 

V/Iiat  a  value  the  land  must  possess,  that  will  induce 
such  contemptible  frauds!  Much  of  the  land 
claimed  in  this  way  would  have  brought  ten  dollars 
per  acre  at  a  fair  public  sale.  Does  this  not  prove, 
to  the  full  conviction  of  every  right-minded  man, 
the  high  value  of  this  Domain,  considered  by  the 
Government  so  worthless  now,  as  to  be  solely  the 
object  of  a  free  gift  ? 

Under  the  pre-emption  law,  the  fraudulent  prac- 
tices against  the  future  purchasers  were  effected  after 
this  mamier :  a  man  would  establish  a  claim  to  a 
lot  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  partly  wood  and 
partly  prairie ;  he  would  then  cut  rails  upon  the 
public  property  to  fence  in  this  said  lot,  regardless 
of  the  legal  penalties  enjoined  in  such  cases.  What 
is  the  practice  of  the  Government  in  the  enforce- 
ment of  these  penalties  now  ?  In  the  North,  she 
commands  the  marshal  to  enforce  them  whenever 
he  can  find  the  plunderer  of  pine  logs;  and  if 
caught,  the  culprit  is  obliged  to  pay  the  penalty  in 
some  way  or  other;  whilst  in  Utah  or  California  she 
permits  the  squatter  to  plunder  and  lawlessly  riot 
upon  the  public  property  with  impunity.  Is  this 
even  justice?  ^yould  it  not  be  better  and  more 
honourable,  under  such  circumstances,  to  ablegate 
altogether  the  laws  enjoining  penalties? 

When  the  idea  of  giving  away  1,000,000,000  acres 


T  0    T  II  E     B  L  A  C  K     M  A  N .  65 

of  land  is  boldly  held  out,  and  we  call  to  mind  the 
mismanagement  of  the  public  land  trust  for  the  last 
twenty  years,  surely  it  may  be  charged  against  Con- 
gress that,  in  this  matter,  it  has  been  an  unfaithful 
steward.  How  much  does  this  recent  neglect  of  a 
great  public  interest  contrast  with  the  care  and  cau- 
tion of  the  Congress  of  1820,  in  relation  to  the 
same  trust!  Then,  a  law  was  passed,  requiring  that 
the  whole  of  the  land  should  be  surveyed  into  eighty 
acre  lots ;  and  that  each  lot  should  first  be  offered 
for  sale  by  public  outcr}^,  and  sold  to  the  highest 
bidder.  This  law  enacted  penalties  against  all 
manner  of  conspiracies  to  prevent  a  fair  sale.  After 
the  vendue,  the  land  offered,  but  remaining  unsold, 
was  registered  in  the  land  office,  subject  to  be  sold 
in  any  required  quantities,  by  proper  officers  ap- 
pointed for  this  purpose.  It  was  also  provided  that 
any  citizen  should  be  allowed  to  purchase  any  lot 
of  forty  acres  which  he  might  prefer,  after  makini; 
oath  that  he  would  never  again  make  a  like  applica- 
tion. It  is  obvious  that  this  privilege  might  em- 
barrass or  prevent  the  sale  of  a  section  to  which  a 
selected  lot  belonged,  especially  when  the  remainder 
of  the  section  happened  to  be  inferior  in  quality  or 
position;  but,  for  the  benefit  of  the  man  who  had 
only  fifty  dollars  with  which  to  buy  a  clear  title  tc 
forty  acres,  he  was  allowed  the  privilege  at  all  risks 
E 


66  OURWHOLEDUTT 

of  inconvenience  or  loss  to  the  Government.  Fifty 
dollars  for  forty  acres  of  land!  only  think  of  it! 
The  land  my  eyes  now  rest  on,  as  I  gaze  though  the 
small  window  before  which  I  write,  bears  a  taxation 
annually  more  than  equal  to  tliis  price  !  Who  would 
not,  when  plunder  is  thought  disreputable,  rather 
purchase  a  title  at  such  a  rate  than  be  classed  with 
beggars?  How  much  better  would  it  be  for  the 
whole  people,  and  the  poor  man  himself,  if  the 
Government  had  steadily  enforced  this  law,  without 
the  false  pretence  of  sympathy  for  the  poor,  which  is 
now  so  strongly  professed  by  the  demagogue  and 
speculator  on  land  as  well  as  upon  the  Presidency  ! 
It  must  be  seen  that  the  law  might  have  been  made 
to  extend  to  a  twenty  acre  lot,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
poor  man.  Twenty  acres  for  twenty-five  dollars ! 
would  this  have  been  a  hardship  ?  Certainly  not ; 
for,  the  land  upon  the  Public  Domain  is  equal  in 
value  to  any  other  land  upon  earth,  and  twenty 
acres,  properly  cultivated,  will  support  a  large 
family  anywhere.  Even  in  the  forest  it  will  do  it; 
and,  just  in  proportion  to  the  growth  of  a  dense 
population  in  the  neighbourhood  around,  it  increases 
in  value.  Twenty  acres  make  a  large  farm  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  cities.  Besides,  I  have  known 
men  who  have  lived  upon  six  hundred  nnd  forty 
acres,  without  having  cleared  up  and  brought  under 


T  0     T  H  E     B  L  A  C  K     M  A  N .  67 

cultivation  as  much  as  twenty  acres.  The  whole 
of  this  free  homestead  mania,  when  honestly  ex- 
hibited, is  the  result  of  a  false  sympathy,  and  goes 
to  enrich  one  class  of  the  community  at  the  expense 
of  others. 

Is  it  not  time  to  look  after  an  interest  covering 
hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars,  that  can  be  applied 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  benefit  substantially  every 
citizen,  and  entail  rich  blessings  on  the  future,  all, 
all  alike,  participating  in  its  benefits  as  they  stand 
alike  in  sovereignty  of  citizenship  ?  Such  is  the 
value  and  quality  of  the  means  I  would  in  part  apply 
to  cure  the  evil  of  slavery. 

The  Public  Domain  includes  gold  mines  that 
ought,  on  every  principle  of  justice,  to  be  secured  to 
the  nation ;  for,  so  long  as  no  equivalent  is  paid  for 
the  vise  of  those  mines  by  one  citizen,  it  is  unjust  in 
the  extreme  to  punish  another  for  trespassing  upon 
pine  or  oak  timber  lands ;  as  is  done  in  many  regions 
without  mercy.  So  soon  as  means,  growing  out  of 
the  territories,  shall  be  made  applicable  to  high 
philanthropic  objects,  and  others  of  general  import, 
then,  a  vent  should  be  exacted  for  these  mines. 

I  think  I  have  shown  that  in  the  Public  Domain 
we  possess  all  the  power  and  means  necessary  to 
emancipate  tlie  slave  in  a  manner  equally  consistent 


bo  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

with  the  interests  of  servant  and  master,  the  north 
and  the  south. 

In  my  plan  for  the  application  of  these  means,  I 
intend  to  show  that  the  nation  will  be  invigorated 
by  the  measure,  and  that  its  benefits  will  be  distri- 
buted among  all  the  citizens  alike,  and  in  just  pro- 
portion. I  shall  take  occasion  also  to  demonstrate, 
still  more  forcibly,  that  the  Homestead  Bill,  now 
before  Congress,  is  not  based  upon  charity,  human- 
ity, honesty,  or  justice.  The  false  pretences  and 
sophistry,  upon  the  strength  of  which  this  bill  is 
urged,  together  with  the  whole  disgraceful  manage- 
ment by  Congress  of  so  vast  a  trust,  leaves  not  a 
doubt  upon  my  mind  of  the  unfitness  of  Congress  for 
the  management  of  the,  Puhlic  Domain.  To  prevent 
the  evils  and  moral  deformity  growing  to  most  gi- 
gantic dimensions  out  of  this  mismanagement,  (which 
need  but  to  be  rightly  examined  to  shock  the  whole 
nation,)  was  the  motive  that  prompted  this  inquiry. 
The  remedy — the  result — I  have  written  down  and 
printed. 

Almost  my  whole  life  has  been  spent  in  the  open 
air,  in  field  and  forest,  sometimes  looking  upon  and 
commiserating  the  wrongs  heaped  upon  the  poor 
Indian,  and,  at  the  same  time,  observing  the  frauds 
committed  upon  the  Government  by  the  lawless 
adventurer,  setting  aside  in  his  profligacy  law,  jus- 


TOTHEBLACKMAN.  69 

tice,  and  humanity.  I  have  been  all  the  while  rather 
observing  and  noting  those  scenes  by  which  I  was 
surrounded,  than  studying  the  graces  of  literature, 
with  a  view  to  their  presentment  in  a  captivating 
dress.  Unused  to  the  practice  of  the  pen,  I  would 
wish  you,  reader,  to  judge  me  rather  by  what  I 
say  and  mean,  than  by  the  mere  manner  and  style 
in  which  I  have  said  it. 

I  desire  to  see  the  appropriation  of  the  Public 
Domain  made  in  accordance  with  the  simplest  prin- 
ciple of  common  sense,  such  as  actuates  the  boy 
who  picks  rags  out  of  the  gutter,  looking  into  the 
future  for  wealth  and  competence,  intelligence  and 
respectability  for  his  family  !  To  this  end,  he  does 
not  clothe  himself  with  these  rags.  He  washes  them, 
and  has  them  rendered  into  paper  upon  which  the 
value  of  millions  may  be  stamped,  -How  this  poor 
boy  would  scandalize  himself  by  covering  his  body 
with  these  rags  !  Would  a  similar  policy  be  worthy 
of  the  nation  that  claims  to  lead  the  van  in  the 
march  of  civilization  and  philanthropy  ?  Yet  such 
is  precisely  our  policy  in  relation  to  the  public 
lands.  Citizens  of  a  glorious  Republic,  with  whom 
lies  all  the  power,  let  us  change  the  disgraceful 
system.  Let  us  take  our  noble  estate  out  of  the 
hands  of  agents  unworthy  of  the  trust.  But  how? 
In  tlie  next  chapter,  we  shall  see. 


70  OURWHOLEDUTY 


CHAPTER  IV. 

PLAN  FOR  CONSTITUTIONALLY  REMOVING  THE  PUBLIC  DOMAIN 
FROM  THE  CUSTODY  OF  CONGRESS. 

Proposed  Convention  of  the  People  for  considering  the  Public  Domain  as 
a  means  for  Emancipation  and  other  great  National  Purposes — Plan  for 
the  Organization  of  a  Board  of  the  Public  Domain — Propriety  of  encour- 
raging  Public  Works  in  Africa — Hints  on  Negro  Education,  in  antici- 
pation of  the  Exodus — "  The  Redemption  System  "  in  Africa  —  Appro- 
priations to  American  Public  School  Funds,  with  collateral  extinction 
of  the  State  Debts,  and  the  encouragement  of  State  Improvements  — 
Folly  of  the  Free  Homestead  Scheme — How  to  prevent  injury  to  the 
South  from  the  Exodus — Amplitude  of  the  Resources  from  the  Domain, 
if  properly  guarded  —  Beneficial  results  to  Agriculture,  Commerce, 
Currency,  and  Morals — Tendency  of  California  Gold  to  extend  Slave 
Territory —  Further  Remarks  on  the  Free  Homestead  Scheme. 

At  the  close  of  the  last  chapter,  I  stated  the 
conclusion,  legitimately  drawn  from  a  long  history 
of  abuses,  that  if  the  proceeds  of  the  Public  Domain 
are  to  be  wisely  appropriated  to  truly  national  pur- 
poses, and  especially  to  the  ultimate  removal  of  the 
curse  of  slavery,  the  public  lands  must  he  tahen  from 
tlie  guardiaTiship  of  Congress,  and  placed,  by  the 
people,  in  hands  capable  of  properly  administering 
the  trust. 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  -71 

In  effecting  this  object,  I  would  propose  that  the 
people,  in  their  majesty,  should  insist  that  Congress 
should  pass  a  law,  providing  for  the  election  of  one 
citizen  from  each  congressional  district  in  the  United 
States,  to  meet  in  convention  in  Washington  upon 
any  appointed  day  after  the  4th  of  March,  1855,  for 
the  purpose,  in  the  first  instance,  of  deciding  the 
simple  questions,  Whether  it  be  right  and  expedient 
that  measures  for  the  ultimate  emancipation  and 
colonization  of  the  coloured  race  in  this  country 
should  be  now  prospectively  provided  for;  and 
whether  the  principal  or  the  interest  of  the  proceeds  of 
the  public  lands  should  be,  wholly  or  in  part,  appro- 
priated to  the  accomplishment  of  this  purpose,  with- 
out detriment  to  the  rights  of  the  owner  of  the 
slaves. 

Should  the  convention  decide  these  questions  in 
the  negative,  its  labours  would  cease  by  the  absence 
of  further  matter  for  deliberation  :  but,  let  us  suppose 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  thus  in  formal  and 
lawful  convention  assembled,  to  have  resolved  that 
it  would  be  right  and  expedient  to  commence  and 
complete  the  emancipation  of  the  slave  in  the  course 
of  the  next  hundred  years,  if  it  should  require  that 
length  of  time  to  do  so  wisely  and  safely ;  more- 
over, that,  in  the  Public  Domain,  we  possess  the 
required  means.     Then,  with  a  view  to  set  aside  all 


iJ.  OURWIIOLEDUTY 

manner  of  doubt  that  tlie  revenues  growing  out  of 
at  least  the  interest  of  the  proceeds  of  this  domain 
will  be  permanently  applied  to  this  and  other  equally 
noble  purposes,  the  convention  should  appoint,  or 
determine  the  manner  of  choosing  the  proper  num- 
ber of  persons,  of  the  right  character  and  standing, 
to  regulate  and  effect  the  sales  of  the  public  lands, 
just  so  fast  as  the  United  States  shall  extinguish 
Indian  titles ;  to  manage  the  proper  investment  of 
the  same ;  and  to  apply  the  proceeds  thereof  to  the 
several  objects  of  national  importance  which  may 
be  designated  by  the  convention.  These  trustees, 
composing  a  Board  of  the  Public  Domain,  should 
have  a  written  constitution,  in  which  their  precise 
duties  must  be  laid  down  and  defined  in  such  a 
manner  that  the  limits  of  their  power  cannot  be 
misunderstood,  or  its  action  misapplied.  The  plan 
which  I  propose  is,  that  at  least  one  person,  not  less 
than  fifty  years  of  age,  shall  be  elected  by  the  peo- 
ple of  each  state,  as  a  member  of  the  Board  of  the 
PuhJic  Domain  J  which  board  shall  be  invested  with 
ample  power  to  receive  the  proceed^  of  sales,  and 
attend  to  the  disbursement  of  the  same.  That  not 
more  than  one-half  of  the  proceeds  of  any  one  year 
should  be  applied  to  purposes  of  emancipation  in 
that  year;  and  moreover,  that  no  larger  number  of 
negroes,  whether  freemen  or  slaves,  should  be  for- 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  <0 

warded  to  Africa  by  the  board,  at  any  time,  than 
would  be  likely  to  find  employment  and  comfortable 
subsistence  there  :  that,  out  of  this  moiety,  $100,000 
or  even  a  larger  sum,  should  be  deposited  with 
the  Liberian  Government  annually,  so  long  as 
the  people  of  Liberia  shall  be  willing  to  accept  it, 
upon  condition  that  they  consent  to  tax  themselves, 
and  pay  in  support  of  their  common  and  agricultural 
schools,  six  per  cent,  per  annum  upon  these  donations. 
This  sum,  judiciously  invested  in  public  improve- 
ments, especially  railroads  leading  into  the  interior 
of  Africa,  or  in  steamboats  to  run  upon  their  im- 
portant rivers,  would  soon  begin  to  produce  such 
striking  effects  upon  the  civilization  of  Africa,  and 
bring  such  an  amount  of  African  products  to  Liberia, 
as  to  offer  a  powerful  inducement  to  the  more 
wealthy  portion  of  our  free  coloured  population  to 
seek  the  means  of  comfort,  prosperity,  and  freedom 
in  Africa.  This  movement  would  naturally  be  fol- 
lowed by  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the  coloured  men 
generally,  to  leave  a  land  in  which  social  inequality 
presents  a  hopeless  barrier  against  their  elevation 
above  virtual  serfdom.  Thus,  by  means  so  small, 
yet  so  encouraging,  would  Liberia,  in  her  improve- 
ments, increase  her  resources  and  her  commerce  to 
such  an  extent,  that  she  would  soon  find  means 
within  herself  for  the  support  of  all  slaves  tliat  it 


74  OURT\'IIOLEDUTY 

might  be  found  desirable  to  send  her,  and  all  free- 
men of  colour  that  could  not  be  restrained  from 
going.  The  labour-saving  power  of  railroads  is  such 
that,  in  the  civilization  of  Africa,  they  cannot  be 
dispensed  with.  This,  the  free  and  wealthy  black 
of  American  experience,  would  soon  discover.  He 
would  soon  find  the  educated  native  African,  educated 
by  him,  quite  ready  to  aid  him  in  such  a  scheme ; 
and,  to  carry  it  forward,  he  would  require  little  more 
than  tools,  and  a  sufficient  number  of  American 
coloured  engineers  and  labourers  to  direct  or  assist 
in  the  construction  of  public  works.  To  favour  this 
end,  measures  ought  to  be  immediately  adopted  to 
secure  to  a  number  of  intelligent  blacks  a  practical 
engineering  education  that  would  enable  them  not 
only  to  accomplish  such  works,  but  also  to  conduct 
like  schools  in  the  country  of  their  fathers. 

All  that  is  essential  in  the  case  of  railroads  or 
aiTy  other  great  undertaking  in  Africa,  is  simply  to 
start  the  race  in  the  right  course,  with  ship-builders, 
bricklajers,  carpenters,  blacksmiths,  masons,  &c. 
They  will  then  soon  help  themselves,  and  year  after , 
year  hold  out  stronger  and  stronger  inducements  to 
the  American  African  to  migrate.  Africa  has  far 
less  need  of  much  money  than  of  proper  encourage- 
ment and  advice.  With  these,  the  resources  of 
Africa  would  soon  elevate  her  civilized  people  above 


T  0    T  II  E     B  L  A  C  K    M  A  N  .  75 

the  necessity  of  further  assistance  ;  and  the  influence 
of  our  kind  regard  for  them,  displayed  in  this  effec- 
tive manner,  would  tend  to  ennoble  them  and  raise 
their  self-esteem,  while  imbuing  them  with  affection 
towards  the  land  of  their  former  oppression,  but 
present  benefaction ;  and  placing  that  land  on  the 
footing  of  the  most  favoured  nation  in  their  future 
and  invaluable  trade.  With  feelings  such  as  would 
then  inspire  them,  and  with  the  rapid  increase  of 
numbers  yearly  arriving  from  America,  they  would 
speedily  enlarge  the  boundaries  of  their  civilization 
and  the  circle  of  their  affiliated  states.  Thus  they 
would  continue  to  make  progress,  until  the  continent 
itself  would  become  redeemed  from  the  darkness  and 
depravity  that  have  degraded  it  to  the  dust  for  ages. 
With  such  guidance  and  such  encouragement,  who 
can  foresee,  or  even  imagine  what  Africa  may  become 
in  the  short  space  of  three  generations  ? 

But,  in  the  furtherance  of  this  good  work,  we 
should  establish,  in  every  state  of  the  Union  in  which 
the  black  man  may  be  found,  institutions  where  the 
coloured  orphan,  or  the  children  of  the  idle,  the  con- 
vict, the  drunkard,  and  all  such  as  fail  to  give  their 
children  moral  instruction,  should  be  gathered 
together,  and  taught  such  things  as  would  be  most 
suited  to  their  capacity;  and  such  among  them  as 
display  superior  talent,  girls  as  well  as  boys,  should 


76  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

be  so  instructed  as  to  fit  them  for  teachers  in  the 
common  schools  of  Africa.  Lads  of  less  marked 
ability  should  be  bound  out  to  farmers  and  mechan- 
ics, where  proper  places  could  be  found ;  the  girls 
should  be  sent  into  families  where  they  could  be 
taught  house-keeping.  As  these  unfortunates  be- 
come fitted  for  usefulness,  they  should  be  sent  to 
Africa.  These  schools  would  afford  opportunities 
to  thousands  of  humane  slave-holders,  (and  I  know 
many  such  men,)  to  ofier  at  the  altar  of  humanity 
children  that  are  often  but  a  source  of  anxiety  and 
care  to  them. 

A  union  of  sentiment  upon  the  destiny  of  the 
American  African  being  once  established,  it  may 
readily  be  perceived  how  the  feelings  of  all  would 
harmonize.  The  young  would  be  offered  in  not 
inconsiderable  numbers  as  a  free  gift,  as  being  the 
most  effective  in  the  work  of  emancipation.  The 
current  of  an  enlightened  emigration  of  negroes 
from  America  to  Liberia  once  established,  a  daily- 
increasing  commerce  would  enlarge  the  resources  of 
Africa.  Her  merchants,  like  our  own  in  the  days 
of  "the  redemption  system,"  would  then  invite  the 
emigrant  as  a  source  of  profit ;  and  his  passage  the 
resident  employer  would  gladly  pay,  in  return  for 
limited  service.  Thus  immigration  would  contin- 
ually increase  the  agricultural  productivenes.s  of  the 


T  0    T  II  E    B  L  A  C  K     M  A  X  .  t  I 

country,  and  enhance  its  export  trade,  its  national 
wealth,  and  the  number  of  ships  and  steamboats 
which  would  be  required  for  the  African  trade ;  so 
that,  from  that  moment,  emancipation  and  commerce 
would  progress  side  by  side,  and  all  barriers  to 
national  advancement  would  soon  disappear. 

Thus  fairly  started  by  our  advice  and  assistance 
on  the  march  of  a  higher  destiny,  the  colonies  of 
civilized  negroes  would  become  the'  most  powerful 
propagandists  for  the  civilization  of  the  savage  tribes 
of  the  interior,  and,  as  Christianity  is  the  only  true 
foundation  for  social  improvement,  Africa  would  find 
in  her  public  schools,  established  upon  a  portion  of 
the  proceeds  of  the  Public  Domain,  and  organized 
on  the  American  model,  the  supply  of  Christian 
teachers  required  to  redeem  the  whole  continent 
from  its  depraved  condition,  and  elevate  the  people 
to  such  rank  among  the  nations  as  the  untrammelled 
mental  and  physical  power  of  the  race  may  enable 
it  to  reach.  No  doubt  this  great  work  will  be  cor- 
dially promoted  by  every  Christian  communion. 
All  Christian  sects  will  vie  with  each  other  in  edu- 
cating blacks  of  superior  ability,  to  carr}^  the  gospel 
to  this  now  heathen  land. 

To  look  at  the  present  degradation  of  Africa,  and 
the  past  history  and  present  state  of  American 
slavery — the  one  presenting  the  depth  of  depravity, 


/8  OURWHOLEDUTY 

the  other  a  story  of  multitudinous  wrongs — it  might 
seem  that  both  these  evils  had  reached  a  maturity 
that  nothing  could  relieve  —  that  no  human  power 
could  now  change  the  destiny  of  either.  But  when 
we  consider  the  immense  resources  to  be  realized 
from  a  moiety  only  of  our  public  lands ;  when  we 
reflect  upon  the  effects  of  spontaneous  advancement 
in  Africa;  the  result  of  Christianity,  education, 
agriculture,  commerce,  and  public  improvements  — 
all  started  and  facilitated  by  such  ample,  nay,  super- 
abundant means  —  why  should  we  hesitate  to  wipe 
from  our  national  escutchion  every  trace  of  the 
wrongs  we  have  inflicted  on  the  African  race? 
Why,  with  these  means  in  our  hands,  should  we 
resist  the  voice  of  the  Almighty,  and  oppose  his 
scheme  by  saying  of  this  ponderous  exodus,  It  shall 
not  take  place  ? 

Having  now  examined  how  one-half  of  the  pro- 
ceeds of  the  Public  Domain  can  be  best  applied  for 
the  benefit  of  the  black  man,  (and  when  annually 
applied  under  the  direction  of  such  a  board  as  has 
been  proposed,  who  can  doubt  its  sufficiency  or 
beneficial  results  ?)  let  us  inquire  what  the  other 
moiety,  directed  by  the  same  wisdom,  is  capable  of 
doing  for  ourselves.  A  portion  of  these  means  should 
be  divided  annually  and  pro-rata  among  the  several 
states,  upon    the    condition    that  the  states   should 


TOTHEBLACKMAN.  79 

appropriate  six  per  cent,  upon  the  amount  deposited, 
to  the  support  of  their  own  common  schools.  How 
would  this  rule  work?  In  Pennsylvania  this  money 
would  be  best  used,  at  first,  in  buying  her  debt  of 
forty  millions.  It  is  true  that  the  interest  would 
still  have  to  be  paid,  at  least  for  a  time ;  but  with 
this  difference  —  much  of  this  interest  now  accrues 
to  foreign  bond-holders,  which  would  be  paid,  under 
this  new  system,  to  the  schoolmaster;  the  principal 
being  invested  in  the  school  fund. 

As  the  management  of  the  Public  Domain  is  sup- 
posed in  this  plan  to  be  taken  entirely  and  finally 
out  of  the  hands  of  Congress,  and  regulated  by  com- 
missioners of  the  states,  each  state,  through  its 
representative  in  the  board,  would  secure  its  own 
equitable  interest  in  the  proceeds.  Now,  whenever 
the  pro-rata  share  of  any  state  should  be  found  to 
exceed  the  most  liberal  demands  of  the  school  fund, 
the  increase  of  this  fund  might  be  arrested,  and  the 
future  dividends  devoted,  with  the  consent  and 
iipproval  of  the  board,  to  other  purposes  of  the 
liighest  interest  to  the  state  or  the  nation.  Among 
f-uch  purposes  might  even  be  the  extinguishment  of 
the  state  debts  to  the  school  fund,  by  the  appropria- 
tion of  these  future  dividends  to  its  credit  in  other 
secure  investments.  Pennsylvania  is  now  paying  a 
heavy  state  tax,  and  an  almost  equally  heavy  school 


so  OURWIIOLEDUTT 

tax.  The  effect  of  such  a  measure,  in  progress  of 
time,  would  be  to  remove  the  necessltij  of  all  state  tc(x ; 
and  similar  or  equivalent  benefits  would  be  conferred 
upon  every  state  in  the  Union,  both  old  and  new. 
Thus  would  be  brought  about  the  just  execution  of 
the  original  trust,  and  the  distribution  of  the  pro- 
ceeds of  the  public  lands,  among  all  the  legitimate 
owners.  Will  any  honest  man  now  contend  for  the 
giving  away  of  these  lands,  upon  the  plea  that  the 
houseless  j^oor  must  first  be  made  rich,  before  the 
removal  of  ignorance,  the  securing  of  public  morals, 
the  defence  of  the  country',  or  the  expenses  of  wars 
are  at  all  provided  for?  Shall  we  pursue  a  policy 
that  must  continually  create  pauperism,  merely  for 
the  purpose  of  enriching  the  pauper  when  created? 
In  order  to  accomplish  this  insane,  if  not  wicked 
purpose,  shall  we  forever  deprive  ourselves  of  the 
only  means  for  accomplishing  the  peaceful  emanci- 
pation of  the  negro,  and  leave  to  our  children  the 
horrible  inheritance  of  a  servile  war?  Such  mad- 
ness must  one  day  enthrone  within  the  Capitol 
"the  Abomination  of  Desolation!" 

I  must  now  draw  the  attention  of  the  reader  to 
an  all-important  consequence  of  the  African  exodus, 
wlien  the  numbers  of  the  American  slaves  become 
seriously  diminished.  With  the  diminution  of 
labourers,  labour  will  be  enhanced  in  value,  unless 


TOTIIEBLACKMAN.  81 

the  natural  growth  of  the  white,  should  keep  pace 
with  the  decrease  of  the  black  race.  Be  this  as  it 
may,  the  great  staple  of  the  South  must  be  embar- 
rassed for  a  time,  by  the  removal  of  a  class  of  unpaid 
labourers  thought  to  be  peculiarly  adapted  to  its  cul- 
ture. It  is  not  impossible  that  the  cheap  peon  labour 
of  Mexico  might  in  part  or  entirely  supply  the 
deficiency,  if,  as  is  probable,  necessity  or  uncurbed 
ambition  should  bring  that  country  under  the  shadow 
of  the  stars  and  stripes,  and  charge  us  with  the  pro- 
tection of  another  race,  stronger  than,  and  fully  as 
economical  as  the  Chinese,  and  equally  incapable  of 
amalgamating  with  our  own.  But,  in  any  case,  the 
cotton  of  America  is  destined  to  inevitable  competi- 
tion with  that  of  civilized  Africa,  where  an  enlarged 
production  and  a  more  fitting  climate  may  render 
that  competition  formidable.  Prudence,  then,  re- 
quires that  the  friends  of  eventual  emancipation 
should  look  around  in  time  for  other  and  not  less 
profitable  species  of  labour,  and  other  staples,  to  fill 
up  the  partial  vacuum  to  be  created  by  our  scheme. 
It  strikes  me  that  the  substitution  of  minini;:  and 
manufacturing  operations  for  a  portion  of  deficient 
agricultural  employment,  would  furnish  the  most 
effective  remedy  for  the  evil ;  and  among  these,  the 
manufacture  of  iron  holds  the  first  place.  The  vast 
quantity  of  this  metal  consumed  in  our  own  coiin- 

F 


82  OURWHOLEDUTY 

try  would  afford,  in  itself,  a  very  heavy  operation; 
but  Africa,  at  every  step  of  her  progress,  would  open 
new  markets  for  iron  ;  and,  with  her  advancement, 
the  market  would  become  almost  unbounded.  It 
may  become  proper,  at  some  future  day,  to  offer,  out 
of  the  portion  of  the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands 
appropriated  to  our  own  uses,  at  least  a  temporary 
bounty  on  iron,  so  adjusted  as  to  enable  us  to  under- 
sell foreign  iron  in  our  own  market,  until  home  com- 
petition shall  so  reduce  the  price  of  manufacture,  as 
to  save  us,  in  our  own  supply,  at  least  as  much  per 
ton  as  the  amount  of  the  bounty ;  a  result  which  expe- 
rience proves  to  be  ultimately  certain.  By  sending  iron 
to  Africa,  we  should  receive  in  return  products  which, 
while  enriching  us,  would  largely  assist  us  in  remu- 
nerating Europe  and  other  countries  for  the  products 
we  should  require  from  them.  Trade  thus  estab- 
lished would  render  us  much  more  independent  than 
to  be  continually  obliged  to  demand  supplies  of  a 
manufactured  article,  even  from  nations  dependent 
upon  us  for  the  raw  material ;  but  when  the  raw 
material  is  refused,  and  yet  the  foreign  manufacturer 
forces  his  merchandise  upon  us  while  we  possess  the 
raw  material  in  inexhaustible  quantity,  the  policy  is 
disgraceful  to  our  own  character  for  energy  and 
enterprise.  Home  competition  is  the  only  power  that 
can  permanently  diminish  prices,  and  free  us  from 


T  O    T  n  E    B  L  A  C  K    M  A  N  .  83 

foreign  extortion.  Nor  need  I  add  one  word  to  show 
that,  if  means  drawn  out  of  the  public  lands  be 
wisely  appropriated  in  favouring  this  competition,  the 
benefits  resulting  from  the  measure  will  be  equit- 
ably felt  by  every  citizen ;  and,  of  all  staples,  iron  is 
the  most  universal  in  its  application. 

But  this  measure  should  address  itself  with  pecu- 
liar force  to  the  South ;  for  it  would  cause  furnaces 
to  be  established  in  the  very  places  where  the 
vacuum  created  by  emancipation  and  colonization 
would  be  most  sensibly  felt.  Virginia,  Maryland, 
Kentucky,  Tennessee,  North  Carolina  —  all  admira- 
bly supplied  with  the  dejDosits  of  iron — would  erect 
them  in  every  direction.  These  would  prove  highly 
incentive  to  other  operations.  Indeed,  every  de- 
partment of  business  would  be  enriched  by  the 
growth  of  this  manufacture. 

There  are  also  other  mechanical  pursuits  which 
might  be  made  greatly  to  assist  in  filling  up  the 
vacuum  in  labour  to  be  produced  by  the  exodus  of 
the  negro.  To  say  nothing  of  those  which  call  into 
use  the  great  staples  of  cotton  and  wool  —  with  the 
vast  importance  of  which  the  South,  from  Virginia 
to  Georgia,  is  already  so  familiar  —  I  think  that  a 
certain  amount  of  bounty  upon  the  manufacture  of 
silk  would  be  found  greatly  to  the  advantage  of 
those    regions    best    adapted    to  the  culture  of  tlie 


84  OURTTHOLEDUTT 

worm,  (among  which,  North  Carolina  stands  pre- 
eminent,) as  well  as  to  those  neighbourhoods  where 
the  machinery  might  be  located.  This  measure  of 
temporary  assistance  to  young  and  struggling  manu- 
factures escapes  entirely  the  objections  urged  by 
politicians  of  the  school  which  opposes  protective 
duties  as  calculated  to  raise  prices  upon  the  con- 
sumer; for  the  obvious  effect  of  bounties  is  to 
diminish  prices  even  before  home  competition  has 
reduced  them  to  a  minimum ;  and,  in  the  plan  I 
advocate,  these  bounties  are  drawn  from  a  source 
which  Congress  is  strongly  endeavouring  to  squander 
in  a  manner  worse  than  useless.  Under  the  influence 
of  enterprise  directed  towards  such  objects  as  are 
suggested,  the  farm  would  grow  into  value  beside 
the  furnace;  and  the  factory  and  the  garden,  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  village  :  and  nothing  would 
remain  to  make  us  afraid  that  an  act  of  moral  jus- 
tice might  cause  the  desolation  of  our  country  or 
our  home !  Thus,  the  proceeds  of  the  Public 
Domain  ma}''  be  applied  to  the  noblest  and  most 
useful  purposes  connected  with  the  honour,  j^ros- 
l^erity.  and  pecuniary  interests  of  the  whole  country, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  promotive  of  its  morals  and 
corrective  of  its  corruptions.  With  what  patience, 
then,  can  we  regard  the  folly  that  would  devote  to 


TO    TUE    BLACK    MAN.  85 

the  beggar-making  gift  of  free   homesteads   to  the 
worthless  and  the  idle,  a  treasure  such  as  this ! 

Vast  as  the  resources  of  this  domain  will  undoubt- 
edly be,  even  independently  of  any  tax  upon  gold 
mines,  if  the  national  estate  be  husbanded  and  con- 
ducted on  the  principles  which  govern  private  affairs, 
(more  than  sufficient  as  they  would  unquestionably 
prove  for  any  scheme  which  has  yet  been  devised  or 
dreamed  of  by  American  statemen,)  we  should  not 
conceal  from  ourselves  the  fact,  that  even  the  most 
ample  resources  must  be  severely  taxed  in  carrying 
out  the  emancipation  and  deportation  of  3,500,000 
slaves  without  injustice  to  the  master;  for  the  idea 
is  not  to  be  tolerated  that  the  nation  should  ask  any 
portion  of  its  citizens  to  sacrifice  upon  the  altar  of 
liberty,  or,  if  you  please,  the  shrine  of  abstract  jus- 
tice, that  which  has  descended  to  them  from  their 
ancestors  as  property,  secured  to  them  as  such  by 
the  Constitution  itself — that  which,  though  forced 
upon  them  originally  by  a  tyrannical  power,  in  spite 
of  their  remonstrances,  now  constitutes  their  neces- 
sary means  of  subsistence  and  comfort.  Before  the 
African  can  be  sent  by  the  people  to  the  home  of 
his  fathers,  his  master  must  be  remunerated  for  the 
loss  of  his  services;  and  no  small  totality  of  millions 
will  suffice  for  so  enormous  a  demand.  The  vastness 
of  the  Domain  is,  therefore,  no  npology  for  exempt- 


86  OURWHOLEDUTY 

ing  the  gold  mines  on  the  public  lands  of  California 
from  all  charge,  while  we  protect  by  law  the  white 
pines  of  the  north-west  and  the  live-oaks  of  Florida. 
At  first,  even  the  interest  of  the  proceeds  of  the 
sales  of  land  may  be  sufficient  for  our  scheme  of 
American  and  African  education,  and  the  little 
streams  of  budding  colonization ;  but  when  Africa 
is  ready,  and  the  torrent  of  emancipation  begins  to 
fill  its  banks,  the  drain  upon  this  national  estate 
will  be  such  that  it  behoves  us  to  be  careful  of  all  just 
income,  and  California  can  claim  no  proper  exemp- 
tion from  restraints  elsewhere  established  to  check 
the  plunder  of  the  public.  No  doubt,  thus  hus- 
banded, the  public  lands  —  continually  rising  in 
value,  like  the  Sibylline  leaves,  by  the  very  fact  of 
their  diminution  —  would  ultimately  produce  more 
than  a  sufficiency  for  all  the  demands  of  education, 
colonization,  proper  bounties  on  certain  manufactures, 
and  the  extinguishment  of  existing  state  debts. 
But  the  present  amplitude  of  the  ilational  wealth  is 
no  reason  for  squandering  upon  one  or  two  genera- 
tions, in  an  irrational  and  demoralizing  manner,  the 
rich  inheritance  of  the  future. 

In  carrying  out  our  scheme,  before  any  consider- 
able appropriations  in  the  form  of  bounties  will  be 
found  necessary,  except  for  iron,  the  proceeds  of  the 
sales  of  public  lands  will  have  merged  in  the  school 


TO    THE     BLACK     MAN.  87 

funds  the  amount  of  the  indebtedness  of  the  states 
whose  finances  are  encumbered,  and  will  have 
brought  other  equivalent  advantages  to  those  more 
happily  circumstanced.  This  will  be  the  natural 
result  of  the  slow  progress  and  slender  financial 
demands  that  emancipation  must  of  necessity  make 
in  the  beginning;  because  the  march  of  improve- 
ment in  Africa  will  be  slow  at  first,  and  these  de- 
mands must  always  be  made  to  depend  upon  the 
progress  of  the  exodus;  and,  as  has  been  already 
suggested,  it  would  be  wrong  to  crowd  into  Africa 
more  persons,  either  freemen  or  emancipated  slaves, 
than  can  find  there  proper  employment  and  the 
means  of  comfortable  subsistence.  But  it  would  be 
folly  in  us  to  permit  a  vigilant  rival  to  secure  the 
initiative  in  the  future  market  for  the  great  staple 
of  iron,  by  means  of  her  present  power  to  undersell 
us,  in  consequence  of  the  low  price,  of  labour  with 
her.  In  order  to  prevent  this  unfortunate  result,  it 
will  be  proper  to  encourage  iron  manufactures  in 
America  by  a  suitable  bounty  from  the  commence- 
ment of  operations.  At  first,  then,  and  for  many 
years,  the  moiety  of  the  proceeds  of  the  Public 
Domain  will  be  sufficient  to  meet  all  the  necessities 
of  emancipation,  direct  or  collateral,  immediate  or 
prospective.  But,  as  African  civilization  advances, 
temporary  bounties  on  other  branches  of  manufac- 


88  OURWnOLEDUTY 

ture  will  become  important  to  the  encouragement 
of  our  trade  with  her.  These  will  increase  the 
demands  upon  the  proceeds  of  the  domain ;  but  the 
fund  thence  derivable  will  be  so  vast,  under  an 
honest  and  equitable  administration  of  nearly 
1,400,000,000  acres,  that  its  division  into  two  equal 
proportions,  as  suggested,  would,  if  continued,  soon 
prove  burdensome  to  the  states;  for  all  pecuniary 
surplusages  are  temptations  to  corruptions  which 
neither  statesmen  nor  private  individuals  are  always 
able  to  resist.  This  would  be  the  case  as  soon  as 
the  amount  of  debts  of  indebted  states  should  be 
merged  in  the  school-fund,  and  the  school-tax  oblit- 
erated by  the  investment  of  further  dividends  if 
required.  The  desire  for  additional  appropriations 
to  the  states  would  then  be  gradually  diminished, 
and  a  larger  sum  could  be  conveniently  deposited  to 
meet  the  expenses  of  the  increasing  exodus.  Moreover, 
whatever  demands  might  hereafter  be  made  upon 
this  fund  by  the  states,  from  time  to  time,  we  find, 
in  the  proposed  arrangement  for  the  administration 
of  this  trust,  the  safest  means  of  properly  determin- 
ing such  questions,  and  securing  the  general  and 
equitable  interests  of  all.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed 
that  a  body  of  grave  representatives  from  the  several 
states,  (all  men  over  fifty  ^-ears  of  age,  of  the  highest 
intellect,  and  the  most  enlarged  experience,)  would 


TOTIIEBLACKMAN.  89 

permit  the  resources  entrusted  to  their  care  to  be 
perverted  to  corrupt  purposes,  or  subjected  to  indi- 
vidual embezzlement. 

The  plan  which  I  propose  is  also  of  the  highest 
importance  in  another  point  of  view.  The  dii^osi- 
tion  of  this  vast  fund  derived  from  the  Public 
Domain,  regulated  in  the  manner  suggested,  -will 
give  the  yield  of  gold,  now  one  of  the  staples  of  the 
country,  a  direction  different  from  that  which  it 
takes  at  present.  It  will  find  permanent  and  pro- 
fitable investment  in  the  promotion  of  agriculture 
and  manufactures  —  tlie  material  of  w^ealth  and 
trade — instead  of  giving  mere  temporary  facilities  to 
trade,  tempting  the  trader  to  wild  speculations,  en- 
gendering in  the  public  alternate  paroxysms  of 
extravagance  and  ruinous  collapse,  from  the  general 
ignorance  of  the  true  principles  of  finance. 

The  application  of  this  gold  to  commerce,  the 
chief  direction  now  given  to  it,  has  a  tendency  to 
render  the  cotton-growing  states  especially  subser- 
vient to  the  foreign  manufacturer,  and  binds  the 
slave-holder  by  his  immediate  interests  with  such 
pertinacity  to  the  infatuation  of  commerce,  that 
he  forgets  that  there  is  any  labour  in  the  country 
worth  the  protection  of  our  Government,  except 
slave  labour ;  also  neglecting  the  fact  that  a  war  of 
two  or  three  years  with  Great  Britain  would  render 


90  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

this  labour  profitless  to  himself,  and  the  labourer  a 
burden  to  the  community,  until  the  growth  of 
domestic  manufactures  should  create  an  increased 
demand  for  labour  throughout  the  country,  so  as 
onc%  more  to  raise  cotton  above  the  condition  of  a 
drug. 

The  causes  of  decay  are  spread  throughout  the 
universe,  and  their  ultimate  power  cannot  be  re- 
sisted : — nature  will  ultimately  enforce  her  laws  : — 
but,  in  cases  in  which  pernicious  influences  act  upon 
the  prosperity  of  a  nation  or  an  individual,  it  be- 
comes the  duty  of  man  to  resist  their  deleterious 
agency,  by  legitimate  or  rational  means.  Keeping 
in  mind  this  solemn  truth,  let  us  examine  how  this 
California  gold  is  now  affecting  the  interests  of  the 
nation. 

This  gold,  at  present,  cannot  be  said  to  yield 
wealth  ;  for  the  reason,  that  it  is  chiefly  expended 
in  the  purchase  of  such  articles  as  are  of  immediate 
consumption,  or  are  destructible  in  a  short  time.  It 
encourages,  in  this  manner,  a  display  of  wealth  and 
luxury,  without  creating  any  lasting  benefits.  It 
encourages  us  to  purchase  all  that  promotes  habits  of 
show  and  indulgence ;  consequently,  it  tends  to  the 
increase  of  idleness,  and  to  broad  distinctions  between 
the  rich  and  the  poor,  political  corruption,  and  social 
demoralization.  The  injury  done  to  the  nation  by 
these  means,  is  like  that  which  is  often  witnessed 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  91 

in  a  family  that  prides  itself  upon  the  wealth  which 
enables  it  to  purchase  all  that  it  wants,  almost  with- 
out exertion.  How  often  do  we  see  the  children  of 
such  a  family  rendered  idle,  profligate,  and  vicious 
in  their  habits,  and  finally  dissipating  their  entire 
patrimony!  We  almost  always  observe  that  the 
sons  of  men  whose  lives  have  been  passed  in  the 
dignified  independence  which  labour  yields,  are 
precisely  those  who  stand  firmest  in  support  of 
the  honour,  dignity,  and  independence  of  the  nation. 
The  California  gold  also  reacts  most  essentially 
upon  slavery  —  our  most  perplexing  national  ques- 
tion—  and  upon  the  value  of  our  Public  Domain. 
It  clinches  the  despotism  of  the  former,  and  promotes 
the  profligate  squandering  of  the  latter.  It  clinches 
slavery  by  inflating  commerce,  and  it  aguments 
the  means  for  the  immediate  purchase  of  mere 
luxuries  from  abroad.  The  increased  amount  of 
foreign  fabrics  imported  upon  the  strength  of  the 
credit  derived  from  this  staple,  especially  of  fabrics 
composed  of  cotton,  which  exceed  almost  all  other 
importations  in  value,  increases  the  demand  for  the 
results  of  foreign  labour,  to  the  disadvantage  of 
national  industry.  This,  in  turn,  increases  the 
foreign  orders  for  crude  cotton.  The  unnaturally 
stimulated  growth  of  this  branch  of  trade  has  the 
efiect  of  enlarging  the  income  from  slave  labour,  and 


92  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

consequently  prompts  the  slave  owner  to  make 
strong  efforts  for  the  extension  of  slave  territory. 
To  these  efforts  he  is  at  all  times  induced  by  two 
powerful,  selfish  motives :  the  one,  the  accumulation 
of  personal  wealth ;  the  other,  the  maintenance  of 
an  influence  in  the  Government  equal  to  that  of  the 
free  states,  by  the  aid  of  a  constitutional  provision 
for  a  slave  representation.  By  such  means,  he  hopes 
so  to  control  the  operation  of  the  commercial  wealth 
of  the  country,  as  to  render  permanent  the  high 
value  of  slave  labour,  although  he  cannot  escape  the 
conviction  that  the  continuance  of  the  policy  he 
pursues  must  inevitably  prostrate  the  industry  and 
moral  condition  of  the  whole  community. 

Finding  that  the  California  gold,  together  with 
duties  on  excessive  importations  of  foreign  products 
additionally  stimulated  thereby,  now  more  than 
supplies  all  the  demands  upon  the  national  treasury, 
the  short-sighted  people  urge  upon  Congress  the  free 
gift  of  the  Public  Domain  to  adventurers,  in  order 
that  the  present  state  of  trade  may  be  the  more 
readily  continued.  Such  are  the  effects  of  the 
policy  pursued  by  the  Government,  that,  if 
persisted  in,  we  shall  find,  on  the  one  hand, 
the  Public  Domain  given  over  to  foreign  men- 
dicants, and,  on  the  other,  slave  labour  fostered  to 


TO     T  HE     BLACK     M  A  N.  93 

the  exclusion  of  the  free  industrial  j^ursuits  of  the 
nation. 

When  the  riches  of  the  Public  Domain  are  pro- 
perly examined,  it  becomes  difficult  to  account  for 
the  propensity  manifested  by  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  to  entertain  every  project  that  tends 
to  promote  an  unjust,  unequal,  and  unrighteous  dis- 
position of  it,  unless  upon  the  supposition  that  Con- 
gress is  a  body  whose  constitutional  organization 
imfiis  it  for  the  'prober  management  of  so  valuable 
and  so  peculiar  an  estate.  Of  all  the  wild  projects  it 
has  y^i  entertained,  this  Homestead  Bill  is  the  most 
unjust  in  all  its  bearings.  Its  injustice  to  the 
mechanic,  and  to  all  classes  of  citizens  not  enc^acred 
in  agriculture,  is  too  obvious  for  comment ;  but  it 
cannot  claim  equity,  even  towards  the  agriculturalist. 
A  farmer  with  his  sons,  residing  at  a  distance  from 
the  Domain,  cannot  be  expected  to  leave  his  farm 
and  go  to  this  Domain  for  the  sake  of  the  additional 
land,  upon  which  he  must  reside  five  years  to  acquire 
an  honest  title;  nor  will  he  be  disposed  to  send  his 
sons  there,  at  the  sacrifice  of  home  associations ;  but 
one  living  upon  the  Domain  already,  can  claim, 
without  inconvenience,  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
for  himself,  and  as  much  more  for  each  of  his  sons. 
The  project  does  not  present  one  single  honest  feature. 
It    is  dishonest  from  its  very  inception.     Indcpen- 


94  OURWIIOLEDUTY 

deiitly  of  tlie  immoral  bearing  of  this  measure,  in 
effecting  an  unjust  distribution  of  the  land  itself,  it 
is  marked  by  another  feature  of  injustice,  Avliich  I 
desire  the  people  of  Pennsylvania  and  all  the  old 
thirteen  states  to  look  at  and  examine  closely.  I 
have  stated  that  the  existing  laws  in  relation  to  the 
public  lands  have  required,  from  the  first,  that  the 
Indian  title  should  be  extinguished,  and  an  indis- 
putable title  rendered  to  the  purchaser.  This  mea- 
sure I  claimed  to  be  of  the  highest  importance. 
Now,  upon  giving  the  land  away,  one  of  two  things 
must  happen :  either  these  vital  facilities  must  be 
continued  at  the  expense  of  the  Government,  or  the 
recipient  of  the  land  must  seek  his  title  in  the  best 
way  he  can,  and  be  obliged  to  rest  it  upon  a  personal 
claim,  marking  his  own  boundaries,  which  I  under- 
stand to  be  the  practice  upon  the  gold  lands.  The 
former  course  is  the  only  one  that  can  secure  the 
claimant  from  interminable  litigation,  growing  out 
of  conflicting  claims.  It  is  also  the  only  way  in 
which  the  recipient  can  be  effectually  bound  to  the 
five  years'  occupation  which  the  bill  before  Congress 
requires,  before  granting  a  patent;  for  how  could 
such  occupation  be  proved,  if  the  location  of  the 
claim  were  left  indeterminate?  At  first  sight,  it 
seems  reasonable  enough  that  the  Government 
should  take  action  for  the  security  of  the  recipient 


TO    THE    BLACK     MAN.  95 

of  "a  free  homestead,"  though  it  reaps  no  direct 
advantage  from  the  settler ;  but  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  the  actual  expense  of  surveying  and 
locating  grants  alone,  will  not  fall  far  short  of  forty 
cents  an  acre,  and  you  must  he  taxed  for  the  coat 
you  wear,  and  the  iron  in  the  plough  you  follow,  in 
order  to  pay  the  necessary  expenses  incurred  for  the 
pleasure  of  giving  away  land  to  the  adventurous 
speculator  and  the  beggar ! 

When  you  discover  that  this  charge,  in  the  pro- 
cess of  time,  must  run  through  the  survey  of  nearly 
1,400,000,000  of  acres,  I  sincerely  hope  that  you 
will  begin  to  think,  with  me,  that  the  people  had 
better  talte  this  vast  trust  out  of  the  hands  of  Congress^ 
and  appoint,  as  I  have  suggested,  a  board,  composed 
of  representatives  from  each  state,  having  power  to 
apply  the  proceeds  of  sale  to  the  emancipation  of 
the  slave,  the  extinction  of  state  and  school  tax,  and 
other  great  measures  for  the  common  benefit  of  the 
whole  people. 


96  O  U  R    W  II  0  L  E    D  U  T  T 


CHAPTER  V. 

FIRST    DUTIES   OF   THE   BOARD   OF   THE    PUBLIC    DOMAIN  IN 
RELATION  TO  THE  EXODUS. 

Preparation  of  Africa  for  the  reception  of  Immigrants  —  Preparation  of 
Coloured  Artizans  and  Teachers  of  Religion  for  Emigration.  Adaptation 
of  African  Rivers  to  Internal  Improvements  —  Relations  of  the  River 
Niger  with  Sierra  Leone  and  Liberia,  and,  through  the  Chadda,  with 
the  Nile  —  Vast  field  for  Internal  Trade  and  Railroads  —  Grandeur  of 
the  Future  of  Africa,  if  properly  assisted — The  Execution  of  the  Plan 
would  discharge  our  Debt  to  the  Black  Man  in  full. 

The  proposed  Board  for  the  management  of  the 
Public  Domain  having  been  organized,  and  its  powers 
duly  regulated,  its  first  care  will  necessarily  be  the 
preparation  of  Africa  for  those  who  shall  be  sent 
there.  I  do  not  think  that  simply  transporting 
men  to  a  new  country,  with  ten,  twenty,  or  more 
dollars  in  their  pockets  to  sustain  them  until  they , 
can  find  emplojment,  is  sufficient  to  secure  them 
against  want  and  disappointment.  It  is  not  thus 
that  we  can  discharge  our  debt  to  the  negro  in  a 
manly  and  Christian  manner.  From  the  very  first, 
efforts    should    be    made    to    create    a    demand   for 


T  0    T  11  E     B  L  A  C  K     M  A  N .  97 

labour  In  Africa.  This  must  be  accomplished  by 
aiding  the  development  of  African  resources  in  the 
beginning,  by  the  application  of  a  portion  of  our 
own.  In  a  country  not  overstocked  with  horses  or 
mules,  nothing  would  seem  more  natural  than  that 
the  Liberians  should  desire  the  early  establishment 
of  railroads.  These  should  therefore  receive  the 
prompt  attention  of  the  Board. 

The  very  attempt  to  construct  a  railroad,  would 
afford  the  means  of  living,  immediately  upon  the 
landing  of  the  immigrant;  and,  at  the  same  time, 
it  would  incite  to  a  high  pitch  the  spirit  of  improve- 
ment in  agriculture  and  building.  This  would 
rapidly  create  other  sources  of  employment  —  the 
certainty  of  employment  being  better  than  money 
in  the  pocket.  The  Board  should  at  once  turn  its 
attention  to  the  means  that  would  aid  the  African 
immigrants  in  building  up  their  city,  and  opening 
their  farms  as  well  as  their  railroads.  Consen- 
taneously with  these  efforts  abroad,  should  be  the 
active  employment  of  such  means  here  as  would  be 
promotive  of  colonization.  Among  the  more  imme- 
diate measures  of  this  class,  independent  of  the 
encouragement  of  our  iron  works,  should  be  the 
selection  of  a  number  of  coloured  men  possessed  of 
the  necessary  qualifications  for  making  good  arclii- 
tccls  and  engineer?!,  and  giving  them  a  suitable 
G 


98  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

education,  in  order  to  their  being  sent  to  Africa  for 
the  purpose  of  giving  proper  direction  to  labour  upon 
their  pubhc  roads  and  other  undertakings.  Such 
practical  means  as  would  present  themselves  for  the 
instruction  of  negro  mechanics,  ought  to  be  embraced. 
The  boys  of  Liberia,  as  they  grow  up,  ought  to  be 
provided  with  instructors  in  the  mechanical  arts. 
The  whole  difficulty  in  this  matter  lies  at  the 
threshold  of  the  movement.  Africa,  with  proper 
encouragement,  would  rise  in  a  very  few  years, 
through  her  own  energies,  to  the  satisfaction  of  all 
her  wants  in  these  respects. 

Whilst  preparations  are  being  made,  on  the  part 
of  the  constituted  authorities,  to  qualify  Africa  for 
helping  herself  at  home,  by  sending  her  such  aid  as 
will  be  physically  useful  to  her,  her  moral  and 
religious  culture  should  not  be  left  without  provision. 
The  former  should  be  well  prepared  for,  by  well- 
regulated  schools  here;  but,  as  has  been  already 
stated,  the  duty  of  providing  for  the  latter  may  be 
safely  confided  to  the  several  Christian  sects,  who 
•cannot  be  indifferent  to  the  introduction  of  the 
gospel  on  the  vast  continent  whose  vital  interests 
we  are  endeavouring  to  serve. 

The  wealthy  American  man  of  colour  will  cer- 
tainly be  strongly  induced  to  emigrate  to  Africa,  as 
soon  as  he  is  satisfied  that  prompt  and  permanent 


TOTHEBLACKMAN".  99 

measures  for  the  effectual  and  complete  emauciiDa- 
tion  of  his  race  are  about  to  be  adopted ;  for  he  has 
long  been  sighing  for  a  distinct  nationality,  being 
bitterly  conscious  that  here  no  refinement  of  man- 
ners, no  wealth,  no  merit,  can  elevate  him  above 
the  social  degradation  of  his  race,  or  place  him  ou 
an  equality  with  the  lowest  of  ours.  When  he  looks 
into  the  future  for  happiness  for  his  family,  his  view 
is  lost  in  doubt :  when  he  seeks  for  his  own,  he  is 
disappointed. 

How  gladly  will  he  embrace  Liberia,  when  she 
makes  sure  promise  of  a  home  in  which  he  can 
invest  his  means,  and  transact  his  business  in  the 
character  of  a  freeman,  while  devoting  himself  to 
the  dignified  work  of  ennobling  his  long-oppressed 
country,  and  his  depraved  brethren  !  To  him  will 
the  necessity  of  railroads  present  itself  at  once, 
because  he  practically  knows  their  use.  He  will 
either  explore  the  country  himself,  or  send  those 
upon  whom  he  can  rely  for  information,  to  Inquire 
respecting  the  soil,  climate,  rivers,  and  resources. 
He  will  direct  his  energies  to  the  combination  of 
African  gold  and  African  labour  in  the  construction 
of  roads,  and  the  spreading  of  civilization.  He  will 
succeed ;  for  the  African  has  high  capacities  fur 
industry,  let  who  Avill  deny  it,  because  he  does  not 


100  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

more  strongly  display  it  in  the  absence  of  all  high 
and  exciting  motive. 

Let  us  pause  here,  for  a  moment,  to  glance  at  the 
adaptation  of  African  rivers  to  public  improvements. 
From  all  the  knowledge  obtained  from  maps,  travel- 
lers, the  known  course  of  rivers,  and  the  legitimate 
deductions  drawn  from  the  general  forms  of  conti- 
tents  and  mountain  ranges,  we  have  every  reason 
to  believe  that  a  railroad  could  be  made  from  Mon- 
rovia to  the  most  important  point  upon  the  river 
Niger,  with  much  less  difficulty  and  far  less  expense 
than  was  attendant  upon  the  making  of  the  Central 
Eailroad  from  Philadelphia  to  Pittsburg ! 

The  principal  sources  of  the  Niger  drain,  by  a 
multitude  of  small  streams,  a  table-land  situated  not 
far  from  the  western  coast  of  Africa,  between  Mon- 
rovia and  Sierra  Leone.  This  table-land  extends 
over  about  one  degree  of  latitude,  and  the  various 
tributaries  of  this  region  coalesce  into  a  single  great 
trunk,  at  the  distance  of  about  two  hundred  miles 
from  each  of  these  centres  of  African  civilization, 
and  at  a  like  distance  from  the  sea.  This  chief  trunk 
runs  in  a  north-easterly  direction,  towards  the 
southern  edge  of  the  great  desert  of  Zahara,  which 
yields  it  a  few  small  contributions,  and  gradually 
curves  it  to  the  south-east  and  south.  Along  the 
most  easterly  part  of  its  course,  it  receives  tributa- 


TO    THE    BLACK     MAN.  101 

ries  of  considerable  size  from  the  eastward,  some 
of  which  interlock  with  streams  supposed  to  empty 
into  Lake  Tchad.  From  its  junction  with  the  largest 
of  them,  in  about  lat.  12°  50''  north,  the  general 
course  of  the  Niger  is  nearly  due  south,  with  one 
easterly  bend,  to  its  mouth,  in  about  lat.  4°  north; 
where  it  falls  into  the  Gulf  of  Guinea,  just  east  of 
the  Bight  of  Benin.  In  about  lat.  8°  N.,  long.  7°  E., 
it  receives  the  largest  and  most  important  of  its 
branches  —  the  river  Chadda  or  Tchadda  —  whose 
tributaries  spring  from  the  north  side  of  the  moun- 
tain range  which  separates  it  from  the  sources  of 
the  Congo,  and  from  various  widely-separated  parts 
of  Central  Africa.  Of  these  tributaries,  the  largest  is 
supposed  to  be  the  outlet  of  the  mysterious  Lake 
Tchad ;  and,  by  this  route,  they  evidently  interlock, 
either  directly,  or  through  the  medium  of  the  rivers 
emptying  into  that  lake,  with  one  of  the  largest 
tributaries  of  the  White  Nile.  In  its  whole  course 
of  more  than  2300  miles,  the  Niger  bears  a  consider- 
able resemblance  to  a  note  of  interrogation.  By 
the  construction  of  a  railroad  from  Monrovia.,  to  a 
point  on  this  river  near  the  junction  of  its  early 
tributaries,  the  trade  of  the  lesser  streams,  which 
are  no  doubt  navigable  for  small  boats,  would  be 
made  available  by  the  merchants  of  that  young 
city;  and,  by  continuing  this  road  eastwardly,  down 


102  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

llie  stream  to  deeper  water,  at  no  very  great  dis- 
tance, a  position  would  be  secured  in  a  highly 
healthy  and  fertile  region,  possessing  the  same  kind 
of  advantages  for  surrounding  trade  that  Pittsburg 
presents,  at  the  confluence  of  the  great  tributaries 
of  the  Ohio  river.  Here  civilization,  led  on  by  the 
American  negro  pioneer,  would  penetrate  what  are 
generally  deemed  Central  African  countries,  once 
powerful,  and  awaiting  but  his  advent  to  become  so 
once  more.  The  freedom  of  access  of  the  civilized 
negro  to  these  regions,  and  his  influence  for  good 
when  there,  would  be  infinitely  greater  than  those 
of  the  white  man.  The  trade  of  the  eastern  tribu- 
taries of  the  Niger  would  soon  be  brought  to  centre 
at  the  terminus  of  the  road  for  the  time  being,  and 
thus  the  wealth  of  a  vast  interior  south  of  the 
desert,  and  extending  far  beyond  Timbuctoo,  would 
l3e  directed  towards  the  Atlantic.  At  a  later  day, 
when  free  states  shall  extend  eastward  along  the 
coast,  till  they  embrace  the  mouth  of  the  Niger, 
will  be  heard  the  iron  steed,  snorting  on  his  fiery 
way  along  the  Chadda,  to  the  sources  of  the  Nile ! 

The  exodus,  promoted  in  the  manner  I  have 
advocated,  will  inevitably  lead  to  the  populating  of 
the  region  of  the  Niger  at  no  distant  day.  And 
here,  in  all  probability,  will  be  established  the  third 
of    the   future    sisterhood    of    African   free   states, 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  103 

founded  upon  the  American  model.  Imagination 
conjures  up  the  ghosts  of  more,  like  spectres  in  the 
glass  of  Banquo,  and  loses  itself  in  dreams  of  the  hum 
of  industry,  and  the  "sound  of  the  church-going 
bell "  re-echoed  from  the  "  Mountains  of  the  Moon." 
Such  a  state  organization  once  formed  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  a  powerful  interior  kingdom,  and 
in  the  midst  of  plains,  valleys,  and  mountain  ranges, 
teeming  with  intertropical  wealth,  will  the  free 
people  of  that  state  imitate  the  example  of  our 
ancestors  when  they  opened  to  Pittsburg,  first  a  turn- 
pike, then  a  canal,  and  finally  a  railroad?  Will 
they  thus  progressively  and  slowly  complete  their 
connection  with  Monrovia  ?  No !  They  will  spring 
directly  to  the  best  refinement  of  the  age  —  the 
railroad.  They  will  have  within  themselves  the 
means  to  build  it,  without  requiring  from  us  any 
other  aid  than  tools  and  iron,  after  we  shall  have 
sent  them  engineers,  carpenters,  masons,  black- 
smiths, and  other  tradesmen.  To  judge  of  the 
progress  of  the  American  negro  in  Africa  by  that 
which  has  shown  itself  in  the  United  States,  would 
not  be  wise ;  for  he  will  begin  at  the  point  we  have 
attained,  by  the  aid  of  steam,  within  the  last  forty 
years.  In  this  short  time  we  have  made  more 
progress  than  five  hundred  years  would  have 
enabled  us  to  accomplish  without  it.    The  American 


1  04  0  U  R     W  II  0  L  E    D  U  T  Y 

African  will  not  fall  back  upon  our  early  progress. 
Let  us  suppose  that,  by  any  chance,  our  ancestors 
had  found  in  the  new  home  of  their  choice  a  race 
of  men  like  our  own — their  brethren  in  short  —  but 
degraded  far  below  them  in  civilization.  Let  us 
suppose  them  to  have  met  this  race,  not  as  savages 
against  whom  it  was  necessary  to  raise  the  dagger 
in  self-defence,  but  with  a  grasp  of  fraternal  love 
and  friendship :  let  us  imagine  them  to  have  raised 
this  people  upon  the  platform  of  social  equality. 
Let  it  be  also  supposed  that,  at  the  same  time,  they 
had  a  knowledge  of  the  power  of  steam ;  that  they 
could  have  induced  the  natives  to  useful  labour ; 
that  they  could  have  received  from  England  iron 
rails  —  all  the  machinery  necessary  to  build  steam- 
boats and  locomotives,  as  their  sons  are  now  doing 
—  can  we  doubt  that,  at  this  moment,  after  three 
hundred  years  of  settlement  under  such  auspices, 
we  should  have  railroads  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific  Oceans?  Can  we  doubt  that  Nebraska,  and 
all  the  country  both  east  and  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  would  now  be  teeming  with  population, 
and  the  land  divided  into  small  portions,  where 

"  Every  rood  of  ground  maintains  its  man  ?" 

Will  Africa,  under  circumstances  like  these,  be 
slow  in   her   progress  ?     Surely  not.     Her   present 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  105 

position,  aided  in  the  manner  I  propose,  would  be 
even  more  favourable  to  rapidity  of  progress,  than 
that  of  our  ancestors  in  the  United  States,  under 
the  circumstances  we  have  supposed. 

Long  before  these  improvements  are  complete, 
Africa  will  be  prepared  safely  to  receive  in  large 
numbers,  those  children  of  idle  and  dissolute  coloured 
parents,  who  may  be  unfitted  by  nature  for  the  task 
of  assisting  in  the  business  of  the  common  schools ; 
but  these  will  nevertheless  carry  away  with  them  a 
due  appreciation  of  American  liberty,  and  the  habits 
and  opinions  best  calculated  to  teach  a  due  respect 
and  gratitude  for  this  inestimable  blessing,  among 
the  benighted  and  ignorant  natives  of  their  unhappy 
fatherland. 

All  that  I  have  yet  proposed  to  be  done  for  Africa, 
is  not  too  much  for  us  to  accomplish.  We  have  the 
means  to  do  it,  not  only  without  injury,  but  with 
positive  advantage  to  ourselves;  and  having  it  in 
our  power  to  place  ourselves  in  this  enviable  posi- 
tion, it  becomes  no  less  our  positive  duty  than  our 
proper  pecuniary  policy,  to  effect  the  measure. 
Other  moral  reasons  might  be  adduced,  if  necessary, 
why  we  should  accomplish  this  urgent  purpose.  We 
boast  that  we  are  in  the  enjoyment  of  privileges, 
both  political  and  religious,  superior  to  those  of 
any  other  nation  upon  earth.     We  know  we  have 


106  OUR    TTIIOLE    DUTY 

removed,  step  by  step,  from  the  soil  on  which  we 
have  been  vouchsafed  so  many  blessings,  one  race 
of  men,  differing  in  all  respects  from  our  own  ;  and 
that,  in  so  doing,  that  soil  was  made  to  drink  their 
blood.  In  order  to  render  their  destruction  more 
complete,  another  distinct  race  of  men  was  brought 
into  requisition.  Such  facts,  however  deplorable, 
have  stamped  themselves  upon  our  history  ;  yet,  in 
in  the  face  of  these  facts,  we  have  been  favoured 
beyond  measure  in  all  things  relating  to  our  social 
enjoyment  and  temporal  prosperity. 

Having  attained  to  a  point  in  national  greatness 
where  it  becomes  politic  to  be  generous,  and  humane 
to  be  just,  let  us  not  forget  that  the  price  which 
humanity  has  paid  for  the  blessings  we  enjoy  has 
been  tlie  unmitigated  slavery  of  one  race  of  men^  and 
the  almost  entire  destruction  of  another  !  Yes  !  So 
completely  has  the  American  Indian  been  removed 
from  our  path,  that,  in  a  very  few  years,  scarcely 
one  of  the  race  will  be  left  to  tell  the  history  of  his 
people,  even  by  way  of  tradition.  Its  origin,  its 
mission,  its  progress,  its  decay,  its  fall,  in  utter  deso-, 
lation  and  ruin  —  these  will  be  the  themes  of  many 
a  writer;  but  where  is  he,  "the  monarch  of  the 
woods?"  Such  has  been  the  manifestation  of  the 
Divine  will ;  such  is  the  Divine  manifestation  of 
that    Providence   which    has    suffered    a   powerful 


TO     THE     BLACK     MAN.  107 

nation  to  grow  up  in  the  short  space  of  less  than 
three  hundred  years,  standing  upon  the  ruins  of  one 
distinct  race,  and  the  enslavement  of  another! 

In  carrying  forward  the  great  work  of  the  eman- 
cipation and  redemption  of  Africa,  charity  claims 
higher  consideration  than  is  often  allowed  her.  Her 
limits  are  too  often  circumscribed  by  the  narrow 
circle  of  home.  Charity  can  do  much,  money  can 
do  nothing,  morally  to  compensate  the  African 
bondman  for  the  wrongs  he  has  suffered  at  our 
hands ;  for,  in  his  degradation  here,  we  have  de- 
prived him  of  all  noble  objects  of  honest  ambition. 
Charity  claims  that  the  African  should  be  educated 
to  a  full  understanding  of  the  principles  of  our 
Government,  in  order  that  he  may  become  fitted  to 
appreciate  the  liberty  which  he  has  a  just  right  to 
demand  of  us,  and  that  he  may  be  thus  enabled  to 
teach  this  liberty  to  his  depraved  brethren  of  another 
continent,  when  time  and  oar  tardy  action  shall 
have  placed  him  where  he  can  do  it.  In  the  prac- 
tice of  this  liberty,  he  will  have  a  country  as  rich 
as  our  own,  and  will  no  longer  want  our  money. 
In  the  practice  of  such  good  will  to  the  American 
African,  we  shall  cancel  in  full  the  debt  we  owe 
him,  by  having  taught  him  how  to  plant  kindred 
institutions  in  the  land  of  his  ancestry. 

When    we   look   into   the  dark  vista  of  African 


108  OUR    WnOLE    DUTY 

degradation  and  African  bondage,  and  find  tliat  we 
can  elevate  the  native  African  by  emancipating  the 
Aa\e,  at  the  small  cost  of  a  portion  of  the  proceeds 
of  the  now  despised  Public  Domain — improving  our 
own  condition,  the  moral  standing,  and  the  prosperity 
of  the  nation  by  this  very  measure  —  shall  we  hesi- 
tate to  render  to  the  race  which  has  so  long  and  so 
fiiithfully  served  us,  the  means  of  unrestrained 
hberty  and  national  independence  ? 

Let  us  not  even  demand  colonial  vassalage.  By 
so  doing,  we  shall  place  another  gem  in  the  crown 
of  American  glory.  Shall  this  thing  be  done  ?  It 
can  be,  if  the  people  will  it. 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  109 


CHAPTER  VI. 

TENDENCY   TO   NATIONAL   DECAY    THROUGH   THE  INFLUENCE 
OF  SLAVERY. 

Interest  of  the  People  in  Public  Affairs,  before  tlie  Revolution  —  What 
corrected  the  Abuses  of  those  times  —  Similar  Interest  in  our  Early 
National  Days — Enforcement  of  Law  against  the  Disorderly  —  Honesty 
of  Government,  especially  in  relation  to  Public  Lands,  in  successive 
Administrations,  from  Washington  to  Jackson  —  Commencement  of  our 
Plights  on  Indian  Lauds  by  Treaty  —  Proposal  to  claim  Canada  as  an 
Indemnity  for  the  Expenses  of  the  British  War  —  First  budding  of 
Pre-emption  Laws — First  Grants  of  Land  for  Internal  Improvements  and 
general  Economy  —  Downward  Tendency  of  Public  Morals,  from  the 
Administration  of  Monroe  to  the  Present  Day,  especially  with  regard 
to  the  Public  Land  Trust,  and  the  Rights  of  Property  and  Nations  — 
Large  Purchases  from  the  Indians — Loose  Extension  of  the  Pre-emption 
Laws,  and  its  sad  Effects  —  Commercial  Expansion — Attempts  to  check 
mad  Speculations  in  Lands — Agricultural  Madness — Financial  Ignorance 
of  Government  and  People — Apparent  Prosperity  and  Impending  Ruin, 
causes  thereof  —  Collapse  of  Business  —  Special  Payments  suspended — 
False  Views  and  false  Policy — Extravagance,  Corruption,  and  increasing 
Abuse  of  the  Public  Domain  —  Attempts  to  extend  Slave  Territory  — 
Mexican  War  —  Assumption  of  Debts  by  Annexation — Presidential 
Usurpations  —  Proposal  to  offer  unsold  Lands  for  twenty-five  cents  per 
Acre — Millions  of  Acres  squandered  —  California  applies  for  Admission 
into  the  Union — The  Slave  Question  in  all  its  Terrors  —  Attempts  to 
dissolve  the  Union  —  Pre-emption  Laws  at  the  Bottom  of  these  Evils  — 
The  Free  Homestead  Bill,  to  fling  away  the  Patrimony  of  the  People — 
The  Inevitable  and  Fatal  Consequences  of  our  Present  Territorial  Policy, 
in  Connection  with  the  Permanence  of  Slavery. 

To  sliow  liow  terrible  is  tlic  curse,  how  mighty 
the  wrath  of  God,  upon  nations  that  fasten  n  con- 
vulsive  grasp    upon    the    slave,  I  cited  the    single 


110  OURWnOLEDUTY 

instance  of  the  bondage  of  the  House  of  Jacob.  I 
also  showed  that  history  proclaims  the  inevitable 
desolation  of  the  nations  that  foster  slavery  for  the 
indulgence  of  idleness,  profligacy,  and  licentiousness ; 
and  that  this  institution  tends  fatally  to  enervate 
the  powers  of  a  people.  I  asked  the  question, 
whether  this  nation  ought  not  to  come  to  a  pause, 
and  inquire  whether  or  not  influences  such  as  have 
led  to  the  decay  of  other  nations,  were  not  operating 
upon  ourselves.  I  now  mean  to  show  that  we  have 
departed  from  early  usages  in  the  administration  of 
the  Government,  especially  in  that  richest  of  inheri- 
tances, the  Public  Domain ;  that  the  solicitude  and 
watchfulness  of  the  people  in  relation  to  the  admin- 
istration of  public  affairs  have  declined;  and  that 
the  institution  of  slavery  lies  at  the  bottom  of 
many  of  the  evils  of  which  the  people  have  just 
cause  to  complain,  and  for  which  they  are  loudly 
called  upon  to  seek  a  rational  remedy. 

To  contrast  our  present  course  of  conduct  with 
that  of  the  past,  it  is  not  necessary  that  I  should 
go  further  back  than  a  few  years  p^ceding  the 
Revolutionary  War,  when  the  Whigs  and  Tories  — 
both  alike  when  in  power — brought  their  political 
actions  to  bear  oppressively  upon  the  interests  of 
the  colonies,  and,  at  almost  every  progressive  step, 
some  right  was  wrested  from  the  people.    The  power 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  Ill 

of  the  Government,  through  its  vast  patronage,  was 
then  such,  that  whether  Whig  or  Tory  was  in  the 
ascendant,  even  the  election  of  new  men  to  office 
did  not  change  the  current  of  oppression.  The 
patriot  stood  appalled  at  the  constant  succession  of 
new  acts  on  the  part  of  the  King  and  the  Colonial 
Legislatures,  which  wrested  from  him  personal  rights 
and  rights  of  property,  with  a  rapidity  that  threat- 
ened to  impoverish  him,  and  enslave  his  posterity. 
Have  we  not,  in  the  progress  of  less  than  one  cen- 
tury of  independence,  reached  a  point  when  it 
becomes  obvious  that  the  selfish  ends  of  politicians 
are  as  destructive  of  national  economy  and  the 
rights  of  the  citizen  as  was  the  political  power 
exercised  by  George  III.  and  the  Colonial  Legisla- 
tures ? 

In  those  colonial  times,  new  men  were  frequently 
elected  to  the  Legislature.  Governors  who  had  ren- 
dered themselves  obnoxious  to  popular  censure  were 
also  frequently  removed  from  office,  and  new  men 
appointed,  with  a  promise  that  such  measures  as 
were  thought  calculated  to  destroy  the  liberties  of 
the  people,  and  such  as  the  people  most  bitterly 
complained  of,  should  be  repealed.  Although  new 
rulers  were  placed  in  authority,  those  objectionable 
laws  were  seldom  repealed.  On  the  contrary,  the 
evils  complained  of,  were  fastened  upon  the  people 


112  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

with  aggravated  force.  The  patriot  of  former  times, 
in  the  workings  of  his  own  isolated  thoughts,  would 
continually  exclaim,  "  How  can  these  extortions  and 
oppressions  for  the  promotion  of  the  selfish  ends  of  the 
politician  be  arrested  ?"  In  these  patriots,  (few  in 
number  at  the  time  when  the  first  approaches  of  des- 
potism were  perceived,)  was  highly  concentrated  that 
far-sighted  love  of  country  which  diffused  itself  in  a 
greater  or  lesser  degree  through  the  minds  of  all  the 
colonists,  except  such  as  looked  with  a  more  than 
prudent  regard  to  the  power  and  influence  wealth 
would  yield  them,  under  the  prostrating  influence 
of  colonial  vassalage. 

But  the  office-holder  and  the  politician  found  their 
interests  secured  by  a  close  adherence  to  the  power 
of  the  British  crown  ;  because  the  patronage  of  the 
crown  was  daily  augmented  by  a  i:)olicy  which 
brought  the  people  into  a  direct  and  dangerous 
dependence  upon  the  parent  Government.  The 
man  of  peace,  and  the  prudent  man,  who  regarded 
his  own  safety  and  that  of  his  family,  more  than 
anything  else — together  with  such  as  are  ever  found 
Avith  the  majority,  caring  not  for  right  or  wrong, 
provided  they  may  win  the  smile  of  power — were 
readily  induced  to  strengthen  opjoression  by  a  ser- 
vile vote.  The  true  patriot,  as  he  stood  isolated 
amidst  this    powerful  array  of  selfishness,  in  deep 


TO    THE    BLACK     MAN.  113 

solicitude  for  his  country,  was  forced  to  exclaim, 
"Alas  !  I  am  but  a  single  man  !"  In  a  hope  so  for- 
lorn as  this,  men  began  to  communicate  their  senti- 
ments to  each  other  in  the  most  guarded  manner. 
They  knew  not  that  the  feeling  for  the  honour  and 
glory  of  their  country  so  deeply  concentrated  in 
themselves,  consuming  their  hearts  through  anxious 
days  and  sleepless  nights,  was  broadly  scattered 
throughout  the  land,  and  was  working,  with  greater 
or  less  force,  in  the  minds  of  thousands,  so  as  to  fit 
each  for  his  proper  sphere  of  action  in  a  great 
struggle  for  the  overthrow  of  the  sordid  and  selfit?h 
politician,  and  the  elevation  of  his  country  to 
national  independence. 

Yes,  my  countrymen  !  When  the  burning  lights 
that  shone  through  the  lowering  clouds  and  the 
deep  gloom  of  our  political  morning,  brightening 
with  hope  the  trial-beset  path  that  led  to  the  temple 
of  Liberty; — when  the  brightest  and  purest  first  met 
within  the  circle  of  their  firesides,  to  speak  of 
the  wrongs  heaped  upon  their  country  ;  —  the  first 
promulgation  of  the  idea  of  independence  startled 
them  to  their  feet;  where,  in  all  their  manhood,  tliev 
stood  appalled  at  the  temerity  of  the  speaker,  feeling 
the  halter  already  around  their  necks !  Upon 
retaking  their  seats,  seeing  the  political  party  inllu- 
ences  by  which  they  were  surrounded,  all  tending 
II 


114  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

to  rivet  the  chains  of  vassalage,  and  secure  the 
desolation  of  their  country,  they  asked,  in  their 
well-grounded  fear,  "  Are  we  a  Sodom  or  Gomorrah  ? 
Can  ten  patriots  be  found  to  save  the  colonies?" 
Such  was  the  terror  that  then  suppressed  the  free 
expressions  of  patriotism  throughout  the  land  !  The 
small  assemblages  gathered  around  the  fireside  to 
escape  intrusion  were  not  known  to  each  other. 
But,  as  oppression  assumed  a  more  open  and  deter- 
mined aspect,  in  the  display  of  wealth  and  prodi- 
gality by  the  subservient  politician  at  home,  and 
the  despotism  of  king  and  parliament  abroad,  these 
fireside  patriots,  by  an  affinity  that  naturally  drew 
them  together,  became  known  to  each  other.  The 
community  of  sentiment  which  this  proximity 
revealed  was  soon  found  to  be  national.  The  fire- 
side discussion  of  national  wrongs  then  ceased  to  be 
dreaded,  as  involving  the  question  of  personal 
treason.  If  treason  to  the  constituted  authorities 
was  embraced  in  such  debates,  it  was  a  national 
treason. 

From  this  moment,  the  wrongs  done  by  the  Go- 
vernment were  proclaimed  by  the  people  every- 
where ;  the  means  of  redress,  and  the  propriety  of 
such  means,  were  carefully  examined  ;  appeals  to  th6 
governing  powers,  of  the  strongest  and  most  urgent 
character,    emanated    from    the    public    meetings. 


TO    TEE    BLACK     MAN.  115 

setting  forth  the  evil  operation  upon  themselves, 
and  the  pernicious  influence  upon  posterity,  of  the 
oppressive  laws  so  strongly  contended  for  by  the 
Government.  At  this  moment  of  trial,  when  they 
were  obliged  to  meet  the  hostility  of  Great  Britain, 
exerted  through  her  vast  and  subduing  patronage, 
extending  itself  widely  over  the  world,  and  especially 
throughout  the  colonies,  they  foresaw  the  enervating 
and  deadening  influence  that  the  public  spoils  would 
exert  upon  the  purely  selfish.  They  saw  that,  by 
means  of  such,  the  debased  in  spirit  and  selfish  in 
purpose  would  be  induced  to  support  the  Govern- 
ment to  the  last.  They  knew  that  the  politician, 
in  the  maintenance  of  a  bad  cause,  would  leave 
nothing  untried,  however  disgraceful,  to  influence 
the  timid  and  cautious,  who  are  generally  as  selfish 
in  private  gains  as  the  demagogue  is  in  public  spoils 
or  plunder.  They  knew,  too,  that  such  combined 
influences  as  these  would  operate  upon  all  classes  of 
men,  with  a  force  that  must  render  their  final  success 
doubtful  in  the  minds  of  many.  "With  all  these  dis- 
heartening circumstances  operating  against  them, 
but  with  a  full  conviction  that  they  were  right  in 
their  demands,  truthful  in  their  charges  of  wrong, 
and  patriotic  in  the  effort  to  secure  the  independence 
of  their  country,  they  marched  rapidly  forward,  in 
defiance  of  daily  increasing  encroachments,  till  the 


116  OUR    WIIOLE    DUTY 

time  arrived  when  fifty-six  of  the  noblest  spirits  of 
the  day  were  delegated  to  form,  for  the  oppressed 
colonies,  a  committee  of  safety  known  and  desig- 
nated as  the  Continental  Congress. 

These  delegates,  branded  by  the  Tory  who  lived ' 
on  the  spoils  of  his  country,  as  traitors,  pledged 
"  their  lives,  their  fortunes,  and  their  sacred  honour" 
to  the  independence  of  their  country.  Traitors? 
No!  This  Congress  united  nearly  the  unanimous 
voice  of  a  nation  seeking  its  future  independence 
through  a  course  of  the  severest  trials,  heaped  upon 
it  by  the  despotism  of  the  few  !  No  disasters,  how- 
ever great,  discouraged  them ;  nor  did  the  patriotic 
army,  with  its  noble  chief  at  its  head,  shrink  from 
the  accomplishment  of  its  purpose,  though  the  line 
of  its  marches  might  be  traced  by  the  blood  poured 
from  the  shoeless  foot  of  the  soldier.  Our  indepen- 
dence ivas  acJileved,  through  poverty  and  toil  and 
discouraging  disasters,  by  men  inspired  with  a 
patriotic  hope  that  the  pains  and  blood  it  cost  would 
be  regarded  as  the  price  of  its  future  benefits,  and  a 
security  for  the  maintenance  of  equal  rights  to  the 
citizens  of  the  confederated  colonies. 

This  Congress,  after  independence  was  accom- 
plished, soon  found  itself  involved  in  serious  diffi- 
culty, in  directing  the  government  of  a  country 
embracing    a   great    variety    of    soil,    climate,    and 


TO    THE     BLACK    MAN.  117 

interests,  in  consequence  of  its  not  having  been 
endowed  with  any  specific  power  to  regulate  those 
interests  for  the  equitable  advantage  of  the  whole 
territory.  This  important  defect  was  taken  into 
consideration  by  the  people,  in  public  meetings 
throughout  the  confederation ;  and  the  means  by 
which  the  conflicting  rights  of  the  various  sections 
could  be  equitably  adjusted,  "were  fully  discussed; 
so  also  were  all  the  measures  which  led  to  the 
declaration  of  independence;  and  the  Constitu- 
tion became  as  direct  a  result  of  the  immediate  action 
of  the  people  as  was  the  Revolutionary  War. 

The  Administration,  during  the  first  eight  years 
of  this  constitution,  was  obliged,  in  every  measure 
which  it  adopted,  to  look  carefully  forward  into  the 
progress  of  time,  to  see  what  would  be  its  bearing 
on  the  future.  The  establishment  of  an  army  and 
navy  was  looked  upon  as  necessary,  to  meet,  in  time 
of  need,  those  urgent  demands  which  are  made  upon 
every  people  when  compelled  to  resist  the  aggressions 
of  other  nations,  even  when  the  means  of  defence 
are  ample.  But  when  the  Father  of  his  Country 
retired  from  the  presidential  chair,  his  solicitude  for 
the  future  interests  of  his  country  was  so  deep,  and 
his  heartfelt  anxiety  so  warm,  that  he  could  not 
retire  without  the  expression  of  his  feelings  in  a 
farewell  address,  through  the  Congress  of  the  United 


118  OUR     WHOLE    DUTY 

States,  to  the  whole  people.  How  faithfully  the 
cautions  and  advice  in  this  fatherly  address  have 
been  regarded,  we  shall  see. 

The  administration  of  John  Adams  increased  the 
naval  force  of  the  United  States,  and  augmented 
that  of  the  army.  In  the  most  formidable  war  we 
ever  had  with  the  Indians  —  that  in  which  Gen.  St. 
Clair  was  defeated,  and  "which  Gen.  Wayne  brought 
to  a  close  in  the  year  1795  —  the  Indians  were  so 
completely  subdued  as  to  secure  to  the  United  States, 
by  treaty,  the  right  to  station  upon  Indian  territory 
any  portion  of  the  American  army  which  the  Govern- 
ment might  order  there,  for  the  protection  of  the 
country  and  the  aborigines.  This  right  was  exer- 
cised, and  portions  of  our  army  w^ere  so  stationed 
at  Forts  Recovery,  St.  Mary,  Brown,  Finley,  Meigs, 
Defiance,  Wayne,  and  other  points.  But  peace 
being  fully  established,  the  necessity  and  propriety 
of  this  increase  of  the  army  was  denied  in  Con- 
gress, and  by  many  of  the  leading  newspapers  in 
the  country. 

A  new  and  experimental  government,  looking  to 
the  interests  of  thirteen  sovereign  states  and  the 
future  settlement  of  a  Public  Domain,  was  neces- 
sarily required  to  provide  for  vast  expenses  in  de- 
fending and  protecting  that  Domain  against  the 
Indians.      The    accomplishment   of    this   duty   de- 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  119 

raanded  more  money  than  the  Government  could 
secure  from  the  revenues  arising  from  commerce, 
and  some  system  of  taxation  became  indispensable, 
in  aid  of  the  ordinary  income.  For  this  purpose, 
a  direct  tax,  an  excise,  and  stamp  act  were  enacted. 
In  addition  to  these,  an  alien  law  was  passed,  re- 
quiring of  the  foreigner  a  residence  of  fourteen 
3'ears  in  the  country  before  becoming  entitled  to 
citizenship.  Portions  of  these  tax  laws  soon  be- 
came obnoxious  to  complaint;  especially  the  law 
laying  an  excise  upon  whiskey ;  and  in  Pennsylvania 
this  law  was  resisted.  The  Father  of  his  Countrv, 
who  had  been  for  some  time  in  the  well-deserved 
enjoyment  of  the  ease  afforded  to  a  private  citizen 
after  retiring  from  his  vast  public  trusts,  was  prompt 
in  his  exertions  to  secure  the  proper  execution  of 
the  laws.  He  accepted  the  offer  of  commander-in- 
chief,  and  marched  at  the  head  of  an  army  to  put 
down  the  whiskey  insurrection.  To  enforce  the 
collection  of  taxes,  and  respect  for  the  laws  and 
the  Government,  a  sedition  law  was  also  passed. 
This  law  was  an  error  on  the  part  of  the  Govern- 
ment. It  had  more  effect  in  defeating  and  chang- 
ing the  Administration,  than  all  the  others  combined, 
though  popular  clamour  endeavoured  to  render  them 
all  odious  alike. 

The   Administration   was    evervwhere    assailed. 


120  OUR     WHOLE    DUTY 

Liberty  poles  were  erected  in  many  parts  of  the 
country;  the  cutting  down  of  which,  and  the  arrest 
of  some  persons  who  were  active  in  raising  them, 
led  to  so  complete  an  organization  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  as  to  enable  it  to  elect  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son to  the  Presidency,  by  a  small  majority,  in  the 
year  1800.  The  administration  of  John  Adams 
was  long  pointed  at  as  the  reign  of  terror;  and  the 
demagogue,  even  now,  to  secure  popular  clamour 
against  a  candidate  for  office,  will  cry  out  —  "Fede- 
ralist !" 

All  matters,  pro  and  con,  connected  with  this 
administration,  were  discussed  with  such  scrutinizing 
pertinacity,  that  a  schoolboy  who  could  read  the 
newspapers  could  not  fail  to  understand  the  merits 
of  the  questions  at  issue.  No  measure  affecting  the 
constitutional  rights  of  the  citizen  could  fail,  in 
those  days,  to  elicit  a  close  examination  by  the 
whole  people,  not  only  with  a  view  to  its  present 
bearing,  but  its  future  tendencies  also.  This  "  Vigi- 
lence  is  the  price  of  Liberty ;"  yet  it  will  be  seen 
how  little  we  now  regard  enormities  vastly  more 
pernicious  in  their  consequences  than  anything  that 
occurred  during  the  administration  of  John  Adams, 
except  the  sedition  law. 

But,  I  say,  let  every  Administration  do  as  did 
that  of  John  Adams,  in  patriotically  standing  up 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  121 

for  the  execution  of  laws,  against  all  popular  cla- 
mour, until  they  are  repealed.  Let  the  people,  as 
they  did  formerly,  break  down  measures  which  they 
may  be  obliged,  at  a  later  day,  to  re-establish  —  as 
in  the  case  of  our  defensive  policy  j  but  let  them,  at 
least,  discuss  and  agitate  all  measures,  until  they  com- 
prehend them  !  Any  action  is  better  than  indifference 
and  the  tame  resignation  of  the  liberty,  honour,  and 
independence  of  the  country,  into  the  hands  of 
irresponsible  politicians !  Thus,  and  thus  only,  we 
can  escape  the  censure  of  posterity  for  a  faithless, 
slothful  neglect  of  the  lessons  of  our  ancestors,  and 
the  high  hope  of  the  nation. 

Thomas  Jefferson,  in  his  administration,  yielded 
by  necessity  to  the  unpopularity  of  the  army  and 
navy  with  the  party  then  dominant.  He  was 
obliged  to  reduce  the  army  to  such  a  degree,  as  to 
render  it  incapable  of  protecting  the  lives  of  the 
frontier  settlers  against  murder  and  devastation,  in 
case  of  another  Indian  war.  The  Federalists,  who 
saw  deeper  into  the  future  interests  and  neoessities 
of  the  country  than  their  political  antagonists,  were 
compelled  to  witness  with  sorrow  the  laying  up  of 
nearly  the  whole  navy,  and  the  refusal  to  build 
more  vessels,  in  despite  of  all  the  appeals  they 
could  make  to  change  this  course  of  policy;  this 
party  being  in  the  minority.     For  the  protection  of 


122  OUR    ^11  OLE    DUTY 

commerce,  a  gun-boat  system  was  established,  which 
proved  to  be  so  very  inefficient,  that  England,  being 
in  want  of  seamen  while  engaged  in  a  war  with 
France,  and  seeing  the  United  States  without  ade- 
quate means  of  defence  upon  the  element  of  which 
she  claimed  to  be  the  mistress,  trampled,  with  the 
greatest  audacity,  upon  both  our  trade  and  our  per- 
sonal rights.  She  impressed  our  seamen  with 
impunity.  But,  whatever  was  done  to  resist  the 
aggression  of  the  British  upon  our  commerce  and 
our  personal  rights,  was  regularly  laid  before  Con- 
gress according  to  law  ;  and,  in  1807,  an  embargo 
was  laid,  as  being  calculated  to  deter  the  British 
from  the  impressment  of  our  citizens  into  their 
service.  This  measure  was  enforced  for  only  a  very 
short  time  —  not  more  than  sixty  daj's.  It  proved 
to  be  unpopular,  and  was  not  re-enacted. 

James  Madison  succeeded  to  the  Presidency  in 
March,  1809;  and,  during  his  administration,  a 
Non-intercourse  Act  was  passed,  in  the  hope  of 
inducing  Great  Britain  to  respect  the  rights  of  our 
citizens — this  country  being  then  very  indiiferently 
prepared  for  w^ar.  War,  however,  was  declared  in 
1812,  and  continued  upon  land,  lake,  and  sea,  until 
the  final  battle  was  fought  at  New  Orleans  in  1815 ; 
in  which  battle  this  nation  achieved  one  of  the  most 
bloodless  victories  on  our  part,  when  the  result  is 


TO    THE     BLACK     MAN.  123 

compared  with  the  loss  of  the  enemy,  that  can  be 
found  upon  record. 

But  that  which,  in  tlie  history  of  this  war,  I 
conceive  to  be  of  the  greatest  importance  to  my 
present  argument  with  the  people  is,  that  every 
subject  in  connection  with  it  was  discussed  by  the 
people  themselves.  Its  causes  and  its  aims  were 
thoroughly  understood.  The  country  felt  that  it 
was  based  upon  the  rights  of  the  American  citizen ; 
and,  for  the  maintenance  of  those  rights,  the  people, 
like  their  ancestors,  were  then  willing  to  peril  all. 
But  in  the  management  of  the  negotiation  for  peace, 
by  commissioners  appointed  by  the  President  and 
the  Senate,  the  selection  of  the  men,  the  orders  of 
the  commissioners,  their  place  of  meeting  with  the 
British,  and  their  whole  proceedings  during  the 
negotiation,  were  laid  before  the  people.  Everything 
in  connection  wdth  the  terms  of  treaty  was  known 
to  all  the  citizens  ;  and  all  discussed  the  prelimina- 
ries of  the  treaty,  and  the  claims  based  thereon, 
without  disguise.  It  was  then  maintained  by  some 
few,  that,  on  just  principles,  the  Canadas  ought  to  be 
claimed  as  an  indemnity  for  the  expenses  of  the  war; 
but  the  Government  decided  that  the  war  was  never 
intended  to  promote  the  acquisition  of  territory,  and 
all  that  it  claimed,  all  that  the  nation  could  in  honour 
ask,  had  been  achieved.     This  conclusion  met  the 


12  i  OUR     WHOLE     DUTY 

cordial  approbation  of  the  people;  and  the  prelimi- 
naries of  the  treaty  embraced  no  territory  beyond 
the  boundaries  of  the  nation,  as  tbey  existed  before 
the  war.  Peace  was  declared  throughout  the 
countrj^  in  the  winter  of  1815,  a  very  few  days  ' 
after  the  battle  of  New  Orleans. 

The  expenditures  of  the  war  had  embarrassed  the 
finances  of  the  country  in  such  a  way  as  to  render 
it  expedient  that  the  Government  should  charter  a 
Bank  of  the  United  States ;  and  the  same  Admin- 
istration that  refused  to  re-charter  the  old  "  Federal 
Bank  of  the  United  States,"  now  chartered  one  with 
a  capital  more  than  three  times  as  great  as  that  of 
the  old  Bank ! 

The  Federalists,  being  the  only  party  in  opposition 
to  the  Democratic  party  up  to  this  time,  made  feeble 
opposition  to  the  first  election  of  James  Monroe. 
They  had  seen  all  that  they  had  built  up,  as  in  their 
belief  conducive  to  the  interests  of  the  country, 
pulled  down,  and  again  built  up  by  the  Democratic 
party !  So,  having  nothing  left  to  contend  for  in 
point  of  principle,  and  not  choosing  to  exert  what 
might  appear  to  be  a  mere  factious  hostility  towards 
this  incumbent,  they  suffered  the  second  election  of 
this  statesman  to  go  by  default,  and  it  was  nearly 
unanimous.  The  people  sank  down  into  a  calm  in 
relation  to  political  matters,  the  like  of  which  they 


TO     THE     BLACK     MAX.  12o 

had  not  experienced  within  the  preceding  sixty 
years.  But  notwithstanding  the  quietude  of  this 
Administration,  it  was  conducted  upon  the  strictest 
principles  of  economy ;  the  national  debt,  which  was 
caused  by  the  war,  was  rapidly  paid  off;  the  land 
system  was  perfected  in  a  "way  to  secure  to  each  citizen 
liis  right  in  the  Public  Domain ;  free  gifts  and  pre- 
emption rights  were  guarded  with  the  utmost  care  ; 
so  that,  in  1820,  when  pre-emptions  were  asked  for 
in  aid  of  canals  and  county-seats,  one-quarter  sec- 
tion was  granted  to  each  new  county  in  the  state  of 
Ohio,  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  county  buildings 
thereon.  In  the  year  1822,  ninety  feet  in  width  of 
land  only  was  granted  to  the  Illinois  canal,  con- 
necting the  Illinois  river  with  Lake  Michigan.  In 
the  year  1824,  a  similar  grant  was  made  to  the  state 
of  Indiana,  to  connect  the  Avatcrs  of  the  Wabash 
river  with  Lake  Erie.  In  the  canvass  for  a  Presi- 
dent in  the  autumn  of  1824,  William  II.  Crawford, 
John  Quincy  Adams,  Henry  Clay,  and  Andrew 
Jackson  were  all  presented  as  candidates.  Neither 
of  these  having  received  a  majority  of  electoral 
votes,  the  election  of  President  came  constitutionally 
before  Congress.  John  Quincy  Adams  was  chosen; 
and,  upon  his  election,  a  violent  party  opposition 
sprang  up,  and  the  Administration  was  assailed  from 
the  first  moment  of  its  existence.    Indeed,  the  charge 


126  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

of  corruption  by  bargain  was  at  once  asserted  by 
Gen.  Jackson  himself,  he  having  had  a  plurality  of 
electoral  votes.  This  Administration  was  charged 
with  the  practice  of  corruptions  of  the  deepest  cast 
in  connection  with  the  "Federal"  bank  of  the 
United  States ;  with  unbounded  extravagance  m 
furniMng  the  "  East  lipom  "  of  the  President's  House  ; 
and,  with  other  matters,  faults  connected  with  the 
expenditures  of  the  public  money  on  the  part  of  the 
Government.  On  all  sides,  Gen.  Jackson's  heroism, 
virtue,  and  patriotism  were  extolled  to  the  skies; 
and  such  a  popular  clamour  was  raised  throughout 
the  country,  that  everything  gave  way  before  it. 
The  day  came  when  the  "  Augean  stable  was  to  be 
cleansed,"  and  Gen.  Jackson  was  elected  President 
of  the  United  States.  When  the  smoke  by  which 
the  administration  of  John  Quincy  Adams  had  been 
enveloped  throughout  its  whole  career  was  blown 
away,  it  was  found  that  the  expenditures  of  public 
money  exceeded  by  a  very  little  that  of  the  preced- 
ing Administration  !  It  was  shown  that  the  National 
Debt  had  been  so  rapidly  diminished,  that,  by  the 
continuance  of  tVie  same  prudence  and  economy 
which  had  been  observed  during  the  four  years  of 
this  dynasty,  the  National  Debt  would  be  liquidated 
within  the  succeeding  four  years.  This  necessary 
result  followed  during  the  Presidency  of  Gen.  Jackson. 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  127 

It  was  proclaimed  that  the  National  Debt  was 
extinguished,  and  popular  clamour  attributed  to 
the  hero  of  New  Orleans  the  policy  by  which  this 
great  end  was  accomplished.  It  was  found  that  the 
trau^ctions  of  the  Government  under  Adams  with 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  were  of  a  strictly 
legal  character,  and  that  the  "  East  Room,"  if  fur- 
nished at  all,  was  the  reverse  of  extravagant  in  its 
dress  and  appearance.  When  the  historian  shall 
travel  over  the  period  of  time  at  which  I  have  only 
glanced,  he  will  justly  credit  this  Administration 
with  having  possessed  as  much  purity  of  purpose, 
and  with  being  controlled  by  as  noble  a  spirit  of 
patriotism  as  any  that  preceded  it. 

In  this  very  general  outline  of  the  history  of  past 
events,  my  object  is  to  show  that  the  action  of  the 
Government,  and  that  of  the  people,  notwithstanding 
the  political  calm  that  prevailed  throughout  the 
administration  of  James  Monroe,  was  at  all  times 
calculated  to  promote  the  high  advancement  of  the 
country,  and  maintain  a  full  and  perfect  respect  for 
the  equal  rights  of  property  and  persons;  that  the 
difference  of  opinion  between  the  Federal  and  Demo- 
cratic parties  related  only  to  the  proper  application 
of  means  to  elevate  the  prosperity,  happiness,  ho- 
nour, and  worthy  distinction  of  the  nation ;  and  that 
the  continued  pursuit  of  such  a  policy  would  have 


128  OURWnOLEDUTY 

secured,  to  this  hour,  the  just  and  equitable  rights 
of  the  people,  especially  in  the  proceeds  of  the 
Public  Domain;  while,  by  contrasting  the  corrupt 
and  selfish  conduct  of  the  politician  of  succeeding 
Administrations  with  the  patriotism  of  the  past,  I 
shall  proceed  to  show  how  totally,  and  how  fatally, 
that  policy  has  been  changed. 

In  the  year  1827,  a  law  was  passed  granting  to 
the  state  of  Illinois  a  strip  of  land  extending  along 
the  line  of  the  contemplated  Illinois  canal,  to  the 
distance  o^  five  miles  on  each  side  of  this  work, 
reserving  each  alternate  section.  A  similar  grant 
was  also  made  in  favour  of  the  Wabash  and  Erie 
canal.  These  laws  were  urged  upon  the  plea  that,  as 
tlie  New  York  canal  was  completed  to  the  city  of 
Buffalo,  the  sooner  canals  were  made  to  extend  into 
the  wilderness,  from  the  upper  end  of  Lake  Erie, 
the  better;  for,  that  the  effect  of  these  improve- 
ments would  be,  to  enhance  the  value  of  the  remain- 
ing Government  lands  so  greatlj^,  that  they  would 
produce  more  money  than  the  whole  Domain  in  the 
absence  of  such  necessary  w^orks.  This  was  the  first 
step  made  by  Congress  in  granting  land  for  purposes 
of  internal  improvement.  In  the  year  1828,  the 
Indian  title  to  a  tract  of  land  generally  known  as 
the  St.  Joseph's  Purchase,  was  extinguished.  This 
tract  extended  from  the  most  southern  bend  of  Lake 


TO    THE     BLACK     MAN.  129 

Michigan,  in  the  state  of  Indiana,  nortliward  into 
the  state  of  Michigan,  and  thence,  eastward,  to  the 
Ohio  state  line.  This  land  was  of  high  value, 
being  fine  woodland,  interspersed  with  prairie. 

The  administration  of  Gen.  Jackson  went  into 
operation  in  March,  1829.  This  Administration 
brought  together  the  ultra  Federalist  and  the  aspir- 
ing Democrat,  and  in  a  common  cause  made  friends 
of  personal  enemies.  The  "Augean  stable  was  to 
be  cleansed,"  and  to  do  this,  men  heretofore  holding 
the  most  opposite  opinions  united  in  this  patriotic 
task.  In  the  first  year  of  this  Administration, 
although  pre-emption  rights  for  lands  had  been  pre- 
viously granted  only  with  the  utmost  caution,  and 
never  to  any  great  extent,  a  pre-emption  law  was 
passed,  covering  the  prairie  lands  in  the  tract  just 
mentioned.  In  the  year  1832,  a  vast  body  of  land 
lying  north  and  west  of  the  Wabash  and  Eel  rivers, 
was  purchased  from  the  Pottawattamie  Indians. 
The  pre-emption  right  was  extended  to  this  land 
also.  The  treaty  by  which  it  was  acquired  differed 
from  all  preceding  Indian  treaties,  in  providing  for 
certain  "reserves,"  in  terms  calculated  to  hold  out 
inducements  for  the  largest  private  speculations,  of 
the  nature  of  direct  frauds  upon  the  Government : 
and  from  this  time  forward,  throughout  this  Admin- 
istration, the  pre-emption  laws  were  extended  to  all 
1 


130  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

purchases  of  land  from  the  Indians.  This  system 
laid  the  basis  of  one  of  the  most  widely-extended 
and  wildest  land  speculations  ever  known  in  the 
country,  carried  out  by  men  alike  regardless  of 
private  rights  and  the  rights  of  the  Government :  it 
unhinged  every  department  of  business  in  the 
country.  The  means  of  access  to  this  portion  of 
the  Public  Domain  was  made  easy  through  the 
New  York  canal  and  the  Lakes.  In  the  year  1835, 
it  was  stated  to  me  that  Laporte  county,  Indiana, 
had  a  population  of  10,000  inhabitauts,  though  the 
first  cabin  was  built  in  the  county  only  four  years 
before.  Chicago,  where  the  first  house  was  built  in 
1831,  had  its  thousands  of  inhabitants  in  1835. 
Logansport  then  contained  1000  inhabitants,  though 
the  first  edifice  was  constructed  in  1832  ;  and  many 
other  villages  were  found  to  have  grown  with  like 
rapidity.  The  excessive  rapidity  of  emigration  into 
this  country,  together  with  the  fact  that  every 
emigrant,  even  though  an  agriculturalist  by  profes- 
sion, was  a  consumer  for  eighteen  months  befoi'e  he 
could,  by  his  own  exertion,  secure  the  means  of 
living  for  himself  and  family,  caused  the  prices  of 
flour  and  everything  else  to  rise  higher  in  this  new 
settlement  than  in  the  city  of  New  York ;  so  that 
we  can  fairly  account  for  the  importation  of  bread- 
stufls  into  this  country,  to  fill  up  the  vacuum  caused 


TO     THE     BLACK    MAN.  131 

by  the  consumption  in  the  interior,  in  the  jears 
1834,  '35,  and  '36— though  it  should  be  the  chief 
granary  of  the  world.  Nor  were  land  speculations 
by  any  means  confined  to  this  spot:  they  were 
extended  over  the  whole  Public  Domain. 

This  mania  for  dealing  in  new  lands,  to  the  pre- 
judice of  the  manufacturing  and  other  leading 
departments  of  business,  was  stimulated  into  the 
greatest  activity  by  the  forcible  transfer  of  the 
public  deposits  from  the  United  States  Bank  to  the 
state  banks;  so  that  more  of  the  public  lands  were 
sold  in  five  years  after  the  removal  of  these  deposits, 
than  had  been  taken  up  from  the  year  1796  to 
1833  ! — without  having  elicited  upon  the  part  of  the 
people  any  close  examination  into  the  cause  of  this 
morbid  excitement.  It  produced  intoxication  in 
commercial  pursuits,  and  a  feverish  excitement  in 
agriculture.  It  encouraged  idleness  in  the  adven- 
turer, and  stimulated  the  capitalist  and  dashing 
speculator  into  a  recklessness  of  consequences,  for 
which  no  parallel  can  be  found,  except  in  the 
equally  reckless  administration  of  the  Government. 

If  a  prudent  regard  for  the  true  principles  which 
should  regulate  the  monetary  operations  of  a  country 
had  marked  the  management  of  the  national  finances, 
instead  of  the  war  which  was  waged  upon  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States,  to  the  destruction  of  the  com- 


132  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

forts  of  the  aged,  the  widow,  and  the  orphan ;  if, 
instead  of  placing  tlie  money  within  the  grasp  of 
speculating  office-holders,  the  proceeds  of  the  Public 
Domain  had  been  administered  with  justice  towards 
both  the  Government  and  the  people,  and  in  a  man- 
ner consistent  with  the  terms  of  the  trust  and  the 
dictates  of  sound  morals,  we  should  not  have  had  a 
suspension  of  specie  payments  almost  on  the  same 
day  that  this  Administration  drew  to  a  close. 

The  operations  upon  the  Public  Domain  in  the 
years  1835  and  1836  became  so  extravagant,  that 
the  President  of  the  United  States  attempted  a  par- 
tial check  by  issuing  the  specie  circular,  as  it  was 
called.  This  circular,  or  order  from  the  Executive, 
required  all  lands  to  be  sold  for  gold  or  silver,  except 
that  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  might  be 
bold  to  any  actual  settler,  payable  in  notes  of  a 
deposit  bank ;  all  other  revenues  being  payable  in 
notes  of  these  banks.  This  circular,  like  the 
removal  of  the  deposits  from  the  United  States 
Bank,  was  proclaimed  by  popular  clamour  as  an 
instance  of  the  iron  nerve  of  the  President,  and 
a  proof  that  his  course  was  governed  by  the  love 
of  country.  Yes !  it  was  reiterated  on  all  sides, 
that  the  patriotism  of  "  the  old  hero "  was  so 
staunch,  and  his  firmness  so  unshaken,  that  all 
dishonest  men  in   place,  all  land   and  bank   specu- 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  133 

liitors,  would  be  arrested  in  their  course  of  obvious 
plunder.  In  such  a  light  did  the  morbid  devotion 
of  the  people  to  the  hero  of  New  Orleans  induce 
them  to  vieWj  through  the  fog  raised  by  corrupt 
politicians,  the  patriotism  of  the  President,  at  the 
very  moment  when  he  had  permitted  agriculture, 
the  grand  and  leading  interest  of  the  country,  to 
run  into  the  wildest  disorder,  fomenting  that  disorder 
by  his  favourite  measures !  Old  farms  were  aban- 
doned, and  new  ones  sought  upon  the  Public  Do- 
main. The  mere  loss  of  time  to  this  interest  from 
an  emigration  which  obliged  each  emigrant  to  pur- 
chase his  means  of  living  for  eighteen  months, 
before  his  labours  could  be  made  productive,  was 
the  source  of  incalculable  loss  to  this  great  interest. 
State  stocks  issued  by  the  old  states  for  constructing 
internal  improvements,  which  alone  rendered  the 
public  lands  of  such  value  as  caused  them  to  be 
grasped  at  with  the  ferocity  of  the  tiger,  were  per- 
verted into  the  means  for  increasing  the  importation 
of  iron  and  breadstuffs,  by  which  commerce  was 
inordinately  inflated,  and  every  department  of  busi- 
ness was  thrown  into  a  confusion  such  as  boys  often 
delight  in  creating,  utterly  forgetful  of  their  want 
of  power  to  correct  the  mischiefs  they  are  recklessly 
perpetrating. 

By   way  of  comparison,    I  would   illustrate   the 


134  OUR     ^HOLE    DUTY 

effects  of  Gen.  Jackson's  administration  by  suppos- 
ing a  large  number  of  persons  placed  in  a  room 
heated  by  a  furnace ;  the  temperature  of  the  room, 
the  furniture,  &c.,  being  in  most  proper  order  when 
the}^  enter  it ;  and  the  orders  to  the  stokers  of  the 
furnace  being  such  that,  if  not  understood  by  the 
guests,  they  must  cause  the  apartment  to  be  over- 
heated to  a  dangerous"  degree.  In  our  case,  the 
cause  of  the  heat,  lying  at  a  distance  from  the  room, 
did  not  evidently  manifest  itself  to  the  party  within  ; 
a  difference  of  opinion  existed  as  to  the  cause  of  the 
undue  temperature,  and  each  maintained  his  theory 
with  regard  to  it.  But,  none  understanding  the 
truth,  the  heat  continued  to  operate  with  increased 
force,  all  the  while,  until  there  was  imminent  danger 
that  the  house  would  be  burned  to  the  ground. 
Meanwhile,  the  real  cause  of  the  mischief  was 
simply  this : — the  stokers  were  constantly  adding  more 
fuel  to  the  fire  in  the  furnace  helowl 

The  Hero  President  retired  from  office,  leaving  an 
address  of  advice  to  the  people,  recommending 
patriotic  motives  for  their  guidance,  and  promising, 
by  such  means,  the  long  continuance  of  such  na- 
tional prosperity  as  existed  at  the  time.  But  alas 
for  human  vanity !  His  successor  was  obliged,  in 
the  short  space  of  a  few  weeks,  to  call  an  extra 
Congress,  to  take  into  consideration  the  embarrass- 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  135 

ment  into  which  the  monetary  interests  of  the 
country  were  thrown !  This  Congress  met  in  the 
month  of  September  following  the  inauguration  of 
Martin  Yan  Buren  as  President  of  the  United 
States,  (one  of  the  persons  who  had  been  in  the 
heated  room,  but  has  not  yet  been  found  willing 
publicly  to  acknowledge  the  true  cause  of  the  heat, 
if  he  has  ever  been  able  to  detect  it).  In  his  mes- 
sage to  this  Congress,  he  says,  "  The  history  of  trade 
in  the  United  States  for  the  last  three  years,  affords 
the  most  convincing  evidences  that  our  present  con- 
dition is  chiefly  to  be  attributed  to  over  action  in  all 
the  departments  of  business ;  an  over  action  deriv- 
ing, perhaps,  its  first  impulses  from  antecedent 
causes,  but  stimulated  to  its  destructive  consequences 
by  excessive  issues  of  bank  paper,  and  by  other 
facilities  for  the  acquisition  and  enlargement  of 
credit." 

That  "over-action"  should  be  produced  by  ante- 
cedent causes,  which  causes  themselves  consisted  in 
"  over-action,"  is  not  good  logic.  It  is  over-action 
producing  over-action.  And  that  this  over-action 
should  be  stimulated  by  effects  growing  out  of  over- 
action,  is  still  worse ;  for,  the  principles  by  which 
bank-issues  are  governed  would  no  more  permit  this 
result  than  they  would  enable  them  to  remedy 
the  result  when  produced.    The  truth  is,  that  banks 


13G  OUR     WHOLE     DUTY 

may  coutract  their  business  at  pleasure ;  but  an  ante- 
cedent cause  must  exist,  to  enable  them  to  expaml! 
Had  the  President  referred  to  the  necessities  of  the 
immigrant  upon  the  public  lands  ;  to  the  over-action 
in  selling  which  he  was  invited  to  by  pre-emption 
laws ; — had  he  referred  also  to  the  demands  created 
by  the  building  of  steamboats,  canal-boats,  and 
every  other  appliance  for  the  accommodation  of  this 
vast  immigration ;  to  state  credits  inflating  commerce 
by  the  importation  of  breadstuffs,  and  iron,  and 
silks  in  excess;  then,  to  the  demands  that  the 
public  works  in  progress  at  the  time  created; — had 
he  given  attention  to  the  really  steady  and  prudent 
operation  of  the  United  States  Bank  —  directing  his 
glance  rather  to  the  interests  of  its  stockholders 
than  to  the  demands  of  rapacious  politicians;  —  and 
had  he  given  a  due  consideration  to  the  argument 
used  in  connection  with  the  removal  of  the  deposits ; 
namely  :  that  "  now  state  banks  could  supply  the 
wants  of  the  people "  —  he  would  have  shown,  in 
the  plainest  possible  manner,  how  bank  facilities 
were  demanded  by  the  antecedent  causes  created  by 
the  Government,  in  driving  the  leading  departments 
of  business  into  morbid  action,  in  a  false  direction ! 
In  the  first  annual  message  of  the  President  to 
Congress,  (he  still  not  understanding  the  causes  of 
disaster  to  the  country;  and  the  speculations  in  land 


T  0    T  II  E    B  L  A  C  K    M  A  N .  lot 

still  running  high,  notwithstanding  the  suspension 
of  specie  payments;)  it  was  recommended  that  the 
prices  of  land  should  be  graduated ;  a  lower  price 
being  asked  for  such  as  had  been  in  the  market  for 
fifteen  years,  and  still  remained  unsold.  Doubtless, 
every  politician  and  land  speculator  connected  with 
the  Government  understood  the  plausible  fallacy  of 
this  suggestion.  In  fact,  if  the  recommendation  had 
been  carried  into  effect,  it  would  have  facilitated  the 
winning  of  the  largest  kind  of  profits  by  the  specu- 
lator; for  the  following  reasons  :  — 

I  have  said  that  strips  of  land  five  miles  in  width 
along  each  side  of  the  Wabash  and  Erie,  and  Miami 
canals  had  been  granted  to  these  canals.  Now, 
when  the  plan  of  graduation  was  proposed,  the 
strips  next  adjoining  these  belts,  extending  in  length 
one  hundred  miles  upon  the  former,  and  seventy 
on  the  latter,  and  altogether  amounting  to  millions 
of  acres,  had  already  been  in  market  fifteen  years! 
These  canals  have  their  course  along  the  Maumee  and 
Auglaize  rivers.  The  five  mile  grants  upon  each 
side  of  these  were,  of  course,  taken  out  of  market 
in  order  to  obtain  for  them  the  highest  price  when 
the  canals  should  be  completed ;  this  being  the  only 
way  to  make  them  properly  available  for  meeting 
the  expenses  of  construction ;  and  some  of  these 
lands  were    ultimately  sold  for  more  than   twenty 


138  0  U  R     W  H  0  L  E     D  U  T  Y 

dollars  per  acre.  Meanwhile,  the  belts  on  either 
side  of  the  five  mile  tracts,  thus  reserved,  remained 
unsold,  because  those  river-belt  lands  were  not  in 
the  market ;  such  lands,  for  many  reasons,  being 
always  taken  up  first  in  a  new  country.  But  any 
canal,  at  a  distance  of  eight  hundred  miles  from 
the  city  of  New  York,  confers  increased  value  x)n 
all  adjoining  lands,  to  the  distance  of  ten,  twenty, 
or  even  thirty  miles.  Had  the  proposition  of  the 
Executive  been  carried  out,  the  unsettled  belts, 
though  soon  to  be  enormously  enhanced  in  value, 
would  have  been  made  purchasable  at  mere  nominal 
prices,  and  would  have  been  picked  up  by  great 
speculators,  (who  could  afford  to  await  the  settle- 
ment of  the  country,)  at  twenty-five  or  fifty  cents  per 
acre  !  Besides ;  there  were  other  millions  of  unsettled 
acres  in  the  Domain  that,  at  that  time,  had  already 
been  in  market  for  fifteen  years,  and  unsold,  not 
because  they  were  less  fertile  than  other  lands,  but 
simply  for  the  reason  that  "Indian  reserves"  and 
other  natural  causes  retarded  their  settlement.  It 
is  obvious  that,  just  to  the  degree  that  the  proposed  i 
arrangement  would  have  enriched  the  mere  specu- 
lator, at  the  future  expense  of  the  settler,  it  would 
have  tended  to  impoverish  the  Government.  Under 
the  unwise  if  not  dishonest  policy  which  has  been 
now  sketched  out,  l)y  the  time  this  Administration 


T  0     T  II  E     B  L  A  C  K     M  A  N  .  139 

drew  to  a  close,  the  disasters  which  it  and  its  imme 
diate  predecessor  had  brought  on  the  country,  had 
sunk  state  and  other  credits,  and  business  of  all 
kinds,  to  the  most  depressed  condition.  The  yearly 
expenditures  of  the  Jackson  and  Van  Buren  dynas- 
ties rose  from  $14,000,000  (the  amount  in  John 
Quincy  Adams's  administration,)  to  $20,000,000, 
$30,000,000,  and  even  as  high  as  $40,000,000 ! 

The  people  were  now  made  to  feel  that  public 
affairs  had  been  mismanaged.  "Tippecanoe  and 
Tyler  too,"  together  with  log  cabins  and  barrels  of 
hard  cider,  were  brought  by  another  popular  cla- 
mour into  the  election  canvass.  Ger;.  William  Henry 
Harrison  was  elected  President,  but  died  shortly 
after  his  inauguration ;  and  John  Tyler,  by  the 
right  of  his  election  as  Vice-President,  became  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States. 

The  active  business  of  the  country  had  been  pros- 
trated in  the  dust.  Speculations  of  all  kinds  had 
apparently  ceased.  But,  did  this  state  of  things 
determine  the  new  set  of  politicians  introduced  into 
the  administration,  to  carry  out  such  reforms  as 
would  be  calculated  to  brinsi:  back  the  course  of 
Government  to  the  standard  which  it  maintained 
from  the  beginning,  up  to  the  time  of  the  election 
of  Jackson  ?     No  evidence  of  such  an  intention  was 


140  0  U  R     W  II  0  L  E     D  U  T  Y 

made  to  appear.  The  passage  of  a  tariff  law  seemed 
to  have  the  effect  of  reviving  the  business  "of  the 
country,  but  the  rapacity  of  the  politician  for  the 
spoils  of  office,  (as  the  public  funds  were  still  regarded,) 
continued,  to  all  seeming,  as  grasping  and  uncompro- 
mising as  it  had  been  during  the  two  preceding 
Administrations.  No  reforms  in  the  expenditure  of 
money  were  effected.  What  most  distinguished  the 
new  dynasty  was,  that  it  took  measures  to  bring  the 
state  of  Texas  into  the  Union,  on  its  own  prompt- 
ing, and  when  the  majority  of  the  people  had  neither 
examined  into  the  necessity  of  annexation,  nor 
desired  it.  This  whole  matter  was  arranged  for  the 
people  by  Texan  bond-holders  and  slave-holders, 
for  the  joint,  but  exclusive  benefit  of  both.  To  bond- 
holders, annexation  on  condition  that  the  United 
States  should  assume  the  Texan  indebtedness,  was 
of  the  highest  importance.  The  debt  of  Texas 
amounted  to  several  millions  of  dollars.  The  bonds 
had  been  sold  in  the  market  for  much  less  than  par 
value.  The  speculators  in  these  bonds  secured  vast 
fortunes  by  annexation.  But  that  w^iich  seemed  to 
cause  the  most  bitter  feeling  against  the  measure 
was,  that  it  increased  the  number  of  slave  states. 
Public  land  speculations  produced  little  or  no  excite- 
ment during  this  Administration. 

V/hcn  President  Tyler  retired  from  office,  James 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  141 

K.  Polk  was  inaugurated.  The  people  cliose  bini 
in  preference  to  Henry  Clay,  notwithstanding  tliat 
he  had  taken  a  conspicuous  part,  during  the  admin- 
istration of  Gen.  Jackson,  in  the  support  of  measures 
that  had  a  tendency  to  prostrate  the  credit  of  the 
country.  This  Administration  soon  adopted  mear 
sures  by  which  it  might  draw  as  largely  upon  the 
2)ublic  purse  as  its  j)redecessors  had  done.  It  seemed 
as  if  the  principle  that  "  to  the  victors  belong  the 
spoils,"  was  destined  to  be  maintained  as  fully  in 
force  as  when  it  was  first  proclaimed.  Change  of 
parties  in  the  Government  had  no  tendency  to  pro- 
duce reform  of  abuses.  As  one  or  the  other  of  the 
political  factions  of  the  day  obtained  the  ascendency, 
it  seemed  only  necessary  to  re2ieal  a  tariff,  or  ad- 
vance some  other  mere  measure  that  was  contended 
for  as  a  principle,  in  the  electioneering  canvass. 
This  Administration  determined  upon  a  war  with 
Mexico,  and  absolutely  brought  it  about  in  a  manner 
without  precedent  at  any  previous  period  during  the 
existence  of  this  Government. 

The  first  fact  that  forces  itself  on  our  attention  in 
connection  with  this  war  is,  that  Mexico  owed  the 
United  States  some  millions  of  dollars,  the  payment 
of  which  had  been  urged,  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States,  for  several  years.  Mexico,  in  the  meantime, 
was  reduced  to  bankruptcy  by  internal   dissension 


142  OUR    WHOLE     DUTY 

and  strife  ;  so  that  she  was  too  poor  to  make  pay- 
ment, and  too  weak  to  resist  the  power  which  the 
Administration  was  able  to  bring  to  bear  in  order  to 
subdue  her.  Political  jealousies  also  rendered  her 
armies  unreliable;  and  such  was  her  whole  condi- 
tion, that  she  presented  an  easy  conquest.  Had  the 
California  gold  been  known  to  her,  doubtless  the 
pretence  of  the  war  would  have  been  removed. 

Another  and  most  important  point  in  relation  to 
this  war  presents  itself;  which  is,  that  the  President 
concentrated  the  army  upon  the  Rio  Grande  while 
Congress  was  actually  in  session,  without  making 
known  to  that  body  the  disposition  he  was  making 
of  the  army,  or  the  fact  that  Mexico,  seeing  the 
warlike  demonstration,  was  also  marching  her 
forces  towards  her  frontier,  to  resist  the  invasion  of 
her  territory,  if  such  was  contemplated.  These 
armies  met  in  hostile  array ;  and  then  only  was 
Congress  called  upon  to  declare  war  against  Mexico, 
and  vote  appropriations  to  carry  this  war  forward, 
chiefly  upon  the  plea  of  indemnity. 

Could  James  Madi>son  have  concentrated  the 
American  army  upon  the  frontiers  of  Canada,  and 
involved  the  people  in  a  war  with  England  upon  so 
slight  a  pretence?  No;  he  could  not  have  done  it ! 
The  debasing  influence  of  Government  patronage 
was  not  felt  or  known  to  the  Congress  of  1S12.     It 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  143 

required  the  full  force  of  this  influence,  brought  to 
bear  upon  the  poUtician,  to  induce  an  almost  unani- 
mous submission  to  the  will  of  the  Dictator  of  this 
war  !  Fourteen  Patriots  voted  against  the  appro- 
priation. The  spirit  that  induced  this  vote  finds  an 
echo  in  the  hearts  of  a  large  class  of  American 
citizens  ;  but,  under  the  reign  of  partisan  politicians, 
this  class  is  as  powerless  to  accomplish  a  reform  of 
abuses,  now  and  here,  as  were  the  patriots  who  lived 
in  the  period  just  prior  to  the  Revolutionary  War,  to 
resist  the  encroachments  of  British  oppression,  while 
communion  of  sentiment  was  unknown  to  exitst 
among  them.  But  when  this  union  of  sentiment 
was  discovered  to  our  forefathers  of  those  trying 
times,  the  patronage  of  the  Government,  and  the 
selfishness  of  the  politician  had  to  yield,  and  give 
place  to  the  might  and  majesty  of  the  people.  Nor 
will  the  daily  wrongs  that  Congress  commits  against 
the  people  cease,  until  the  people  shall  determine 
that  the  rights  of  states  and  the  equal  rights  of  all, 
bhall  be  respected.  Before  the  Revolutionary  War, 
jiiid  during  that  fearful  and  bloody  struggle,  the  con- 
liict  between  the  citizen  contending  for  bis  equal 
rights,  and  the  despotism  of  the  office-holder,  was 
terrible  even  to  contemplate ;  but,  to  secure  the  equal 
rights  of  all  noio,  nothing  more  than  a  proper  use  of 
the  ballot-box  is  necessary. 


144  OUR    "^11  OLE    DUTY 

A  third, fact  is;  that,  upon  the  conclusion  of  this 
war,  no  indemnity  was  claimed  for  the  five  millions 
which  Mexico  owed  us,  nor  for  the  seventy  or  eight}' 
millions  the  war  cost  us ;  nor  for  the  vast  treasure 
of  American  blood  that  crimsoned  the  soil  of  Mexico. 
All !  all  was  waived  for  the  acquisition  of  territory  ! 
Nor  was  even  this  an  indemnity ;  for,  at  least  as 
much  money  was  paid  for  this  territory  as  would 
have  purchased  it  without  a  war ! 

The  treaty  by  which  peace  was  restored  was 
secured  by  a  private  agent  of  the  President,  under 
instructions  dictated  by  him,  independently  of  Con- 
gress, and  was  as  suddenly  sprung  upon  the  Senate 
for  ratification,  as  the  necessity  for  money  to  carry 
on  the  war  had  been  upon  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives. 

How  very  progressive  is  modern  Democracy ! 
But,  upon  what  plea,  other  than  a  gross  assumption 
derogatory  to  the  people,  if  not  destructive  of  their 
rights,  could  the  Executive  make  a  purchase  of 
territory,  or  enforce  a  war  of  any  kind,  without  the 
knowledge  of  Congress? 

I  tell  you,  my  countrymen,  that  when  a  President 
of  the  United  States  can  determine  war  or  peace  on 
the  principle  of  a  mere  dictator,  with  no  fear  of  any 
higher  authority, — no  dread  of  the  majest}'  of  the 
people,  acting  through  their  constitutional  agents, — 


TO    THE     BLACK    MAN  145 

but,  by  the  mere  force  of  Government  patronage  — 
the  time  has  come  when  you  ought  to  inquire  what 
are  the  influences  that  sustain  so  great  a  wrons;  to 
yourselves  as  has  been  the  Mexican  war ! 

The  motives  which  induced  the  perpetration  of  this 
wrong,  the  future  will  reveal.  If  the  purposes  were 
the  extension  of  slavery  into  California,  that  object 
has  been  signally  defeated  by  the  discovery  of  gold. 
But,  however  much  this  discovery  may  have  dis- 
appointed the  slave  interest,  yet  it  is  the  only  salve 
that  covers  the  festering  sores  of  this  national 
"  fiUibusterinof." 

This  Administration  could  not  resist  the  tempta* 
tion  to  continue,  and  endeavour  to  increase  the 
abuses  in  the  management  of  the  public  lands.  It 
suQ-gested  that,  if  those  lands  which  had  been  in 
market  a  given  number  of  years,  should  be  reduced 
to  tweniij-five  cents  ]}er  acre,  a  large  sum  of  money 
would  be  secured  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  war : 
thus  making  evil  the  parent  of  evil. 

I  cannot  resist  the  temptation  to  enlarge  a  little 
here  on  the  effects  which  would  be  produced  by  tlie 
plans  of  graduation  in  the  price  of  public  lands., 
wdiether  that  suggested  by  Martin  Van  Buren,  or 
tliat  of  James  K.  Polk,  who  proposed  to  fix  the 
minimum  at  twenty-five  cents  per  acre. 

At  the  time  when  this  graduation  was  first  pro- 
K 


146  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

posed ;  that  is,  during  the  Presidency  of  Martin  Van 
Buren ;  the  lands  that  had  been  in  market  for  fifteen 
years  and  still  remained  unsold,  were  those  adjoining 
the  five-mile  strips  of  canal  grants,  which  have  been 
alluded  to  in  the  foregoing  pages,  together  with  a 
vast  number  of  acres  adjoining  Indian  reserves  in 
the  states  of  Ohio  and  Indiana.  The  whole  country 
in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  these  reserves 
had  become  settled,  except  a  belt  around  each,  some 
five  or  six  miles  in  width,  which  was  left  unoc- 
cupied ;  few  persons  being  willing  to  submit  to  a 
closer  proximity  to  the  Indians,  although  negotia- 
tions for  their  removal  were  actually  in  progress  at 
the  time.  The  lands  surrounding  the  reserves,  and 
lying  at  a  distance  from  them,  were  readily  bought 
at  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  per  acre ;  yet 
they  were  of  the  same  character  with  those  which 
were  to  be  brought  under  the  graduated  price.  Of 
course,  it  is  obvious  how  the  speculator  would  profit 
by  such  a  law.  It  now  requires  $125,000  to  buy 
100,000  acres;  but  under  the  proposed  new  law, 
this  sura  would  buy  half  a  million  of  acres. 

When  the  reserves  were  brought  into  market  a 
few  years  afterwards,  the  land  sold,  in  many  in- 
stances, for  more  than  ten  dollars  per  acre !  Of 
course,  those  nearest  the  settlements  were  held  to  be 
of  higher  value.     The  lands  that,  at  this  present 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  147 

time,  have  been  in  market  for  fifteen  years  and 
more,  and  which  are  therefore  treated  as  worthless 
by  the  designing,  are  really  of  as  great  or  still 
greater  value ;  as  is  proved  by  the  recent  history 
of  the  swamp  lands  given  to  the  states  in  which 
they  lie.  These  swamp  lands  may  be  considered 
as  among  the  best  in  the  country ;  especially  those 
in  the  states  of  Michigan,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Iowa, 
Wisconsin,  and  Missouri.  These  are  among  the 
richest  grass  lands  of  the  West.  When  drained, 
which  in  most  instances  can  readily  be  done,  they 
constitute  the  most  productive  corn  lands  in  the 
Domain ;  and  when  the  country  shall  be  fully 
settled,  (and  it  is  rapidly  approaching  this  condition,) 
these  will  possess  double  the  value  of  any  others  in 
their  vicinity.  Many  of  these  tracts  have  indeed  a 
soil  so  rich  in  mould,  in  consequence  of  the  decay  of 
their  annual  product  of  vegetable  matter,  that  the 
earth  itself  will  prove,  in  the  course  of  time,  an 
invaluable  manure  for  the  land  immediately  sur- 
rounding them  !  These  swamps  or  unappreciated 
tracts  are  generally  found  upon  what  may  be  called 
the  table-land  ;  except  where,  as  sometimes  happens, 
they  occur  at  the  confluence  of  streams,  or  where, 
as  is  frequently  the  case,  they  lie  along  the  course 
of  streams,  like  the  marshes  ordinarily  found  on  the 
margins  of  rivers  emptying  into    the   ocean.     The 


148  OUR    WUOLE    DUTY 

reader  is  aware  that  such  marshes  are  now  among 
the  most  highly-prized  grounds  in  the  country. 

The  table-land  of  which  I  speak  divides  the 
waters  of  the  Lakes  from  those  of  the  Mississippi 
river.  This  region  is  very  extensive ;  and,  as  the 
smallest  streams  generally  take  their  rise  in  a 
swamp,  the  land  capable  of  being  thus  redeemed 
amounts  to  millions  of  acres  !  The  swamps  upon 
this  vast  table-land  are  of  all  sizes,  from  a  few  acres 
up  to  150,000  acres.  The  smaller  swamps — those 
containing  1000  or  even  2000  acres,  or  less — when 
found  in  the  settled  portion  of  the  Domain,  are 
generally  bought  up  by  the  farmers  who  have 
established  themselves  around  them;  each  being 
anxious  to  secure  a  portion  of  such  valuable  meadow 
and  pasture  ground  for  the  benefit  of  his  upland. 
But  where  swamps  are  much  larger,  the  settlers 
have  heretofore  purchased  mainly  on  their  edges; 
and  the  settlements  around  them  enjoy,  at  present, 
all  the  advantages  of  hay  and  pasture  ground,  with- 
out being  obliged  to  purchase  it ;  because,  until  a 
joint  effort  at  drainage  is  made  by  the  neighbours, 
or  until  some  public  aid  is  extended  for  this  pur[)ose, 
these  wet  tracts  are  not  considered  purchasable. 
But  ways  and  means  may  be  readily  found  to  blow 
away  ledges  of  rocks  crossing  the  streams  which  are 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  149 

the  outlets  of  the  swamps,  and   then   these  lands 
will  be  found  to  rise  enormously  in  value. 

As  has  been  already  hinted,  all  these  rich  tracts 
have  been  unconditionally  granted  by  Congress  to 
the  several  states  in  which  they  lie.  I  feel  but 
little  disposition  to  complain  of  this  appropriation, 
which,  at  least,  secures  their  real  value  to  the 
public,  instead  of  squandering  it  upon  private 
speculators,  though  it  would  be  difficult  to  explain 
on  correct  moral  grounds,  the  action  of  Congress  in 
the  case,  when  viewed  as  the  common  trustee  of  all 
the  states,  under  the  original  deeds  of  cession.  The 
extent  of  the  donation  may  be  guessed  at  from  the 
fact  that  some  of  these  swamp  lands,  all  of  which 
it  was  proposed  to  sacrifice  at  twenty-five  cents  per 
acre,  have  since  been  actually  sold  dX  fifty  dollars 
per  acre  ;  nor  is  it  at  all  improbable  that  other  lands 
may  hereafter  lie  unsold  on  the  market  for  fifteen 
years,  though  likely,  in  a  few  years  more,  to  be 
enhanced  two  hundred  per  cent,  in  value.  Many 
tracts  are  so  circumstanced  at  present. 

Many  persons  suppose  that  it  is  necessary  to  go 
to  the  Land  Office  within  the  district,  in  order  to 
purchase  Government  lands.  This  is  a  great  mis- 
take ;  and,  to  remove  the  impression,  I  will  narrate 
a  queer  occurrence  that  took  place  in  the  City  of 
Washington,  during  Gen.  Jackson's  administration. 


150  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

While  one  set  of  the  friends  of  that  President  were 
extolling  him  throughout  the  country  for  his  stern 
patriotism  in  directing  the  issue  of  his  Special  Cir- 
cular, another  set  of  his  friends  were  at  Washington, 
buying  lands  in  large  quantities  with  one  single  heg 
of  specie!  The  way  it  was  done  was  this:  —  one 
set  of  speculators  borrowed  the  specie  and  bought 
land :  the  Land  Office  deposited  the  keg  in  the 
bank.  Another  set  then  re-borrowed  it,  and  pur- 
chased more  land ;  and,  in  this  way,  the  keg  was 
carried  from  the  bank  to  the  Land  Office,  and  back, 
at  each  transit  virtually  embezzling  more  land,  until 
it  became  so  familiar  in  the  sight  of  the  citizens  of 
Washington,  that  even  the  boys  would  cry  out, 
"  There  goes  the  treasury  keg !"  This  is  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  patent  friends  of  the  poor  man 
occasionally  find  means  to  promote  his  interests ! 

I  recollect  travelling  one  morning  through  a  dense 
forest,  upon  a  very  bad  road,  in  the  state  of  Ohio. 
I  met  a  wagoner  with  three  horses  attached  to  his 
wagon  —  a  man  on  horseback,  with  a  musket  or 
rifle  on  his  shoulder,  on  each  side  of  the  wagon  — 
and  the  Receiver  of  public  money  at  the  Land 
Office,  inside  of  the  wagon,  poising  a  musket  with 
fixed  bayonet.  As  I  was  acquainted  with  the 
Receiver,  he  told  me,  in  the  course  of  conversation, 
that   he    had   a   wagon-load   of    specie,   which   he 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  151 

intended  to  deposit  in  the  Clinton  Bank  of  Columbus. 
A  few  dajs  after,  I  saw  Clinton  Bank  notes  refused 
for  land  at  the  Land  Office  !  It  appeared  to  me  that 
the  whole  operation  was  like  trusting  with  the  care 
of  your  silver,  a  man  whose  note  you  would  refuse 
to  take  in  payment  of  a  sale  of  property !  At  all 
events,  the  Specie  Circular  was  rendered,  in  this 
way,  of  little  value  in  checking  land  speculations. 
I  need  say  no  more  to  prove  how  difficult  it  must 
be  for  a  poor  man  to  secure  lands  at  twenty-five 
cents  an  acre,  while  they  are  being  rendered  so 
highly  valuable  to  the  speculator  who  can  afford  to 
wait  a  few  years,  by  the  rapidly  increasing  settle- 
ments around  them,  and  the  projects  for  internal 
improvements  which  the  designing  politician  has 
power  to  hasten  or  delay,  as  his  interest  may  guide 
him.  The  honest  administration  of  the  Public 
Domain  for  the  public  good  would  dictate  that  the 
Government  should  make  appropriations  for  the 
draining  of  the  swamp  lands  of  the  Domain,  from 
time  to  time,  as  the  natural  settlement  of  the 
country  calls  them  into  requisition  for  other  uses 
than  mere  common  pasture  ground;  and  the  lands 
should  be  charged  with  the  expense  of  this  drainage. 
In  this  way,  the  actual  settler  would  acquire  them 
at  a  much  cheaper  rate  than  through  the  hands  of 
speculators  purchasing  them  at  twenty-five  cents  an 


lo2  0  U  R    W  II  0  L  E    D  U  T  Y 

(icre,  with   a  view  to  winning  large  future  profits 
from  the  farmer. 

That  such  unremitting  efforts  should  be  made  to 
sacrifice  this  vast  public  interest,  can  only  be  ex- 
plained by  the  facility  which  great  capitalists  and 
corrupt  politicians  enjoyed  under  the  system  of  fore- 
stalling, almost  gratuitously,  the  immensely  increased 
value  to  be  given  to  the  lands  by  projected  railroads, 
and  for  which  the  actual  settler  could  not  afford  to 
wait.  Mr.  Polk's  administration  closed  its  career  in 
the  midst  of  expenditures  as  prodigal  as  those  of 
any  that  preceded  it. 

Gen.  Z.  Taylor,  the  hero  of  Buena  Yista,  suc- 
ceeded to  the  Presidency  after  James  K.  Polk.  In 
the  early  days  of  this  Administration,  California 
asked  to  be  admitted  as  one  of  the  states  of  the 
Union.  This  application  produced  an  excitement 
upon  the  subject  of  slavery,  such  as  the  country  had 
never  before  witnessed.  Men  in  the  North  and  in 
the  South,  with  unblistered  tongues,  openly  avowed 
the  intention  of  effecting  a  disunion  of  the  states ! 
A  compromise  was  effected  between  the  sections  by 
that  noble  patriot,  Henry  Clay,  that  brought  about 
a  degree  of  good  understanding  satisfactory  to  all 
who  desire  nothing  more  f)r  their  country,  for 
themselves,  and  for  their  posteritj^,  than  that  these 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  153 

United  States  should  continue  to  harmonize  in  union 
to  the  latest  period  of  time. 

Upon  the  death  of  Gen.  Taylor,  Millard  Fillmore 
succeeded  to  the  Presidency,  in  July,  1850.  This 
Administration  is  not  marked  by  any  efforts  to 
reform  abuses,  either  in  the  expenditure  of  money 
or  the  management  of  the  Public  Domain.  Like  its 
immediate  predecessors,  it  suffered  the  squandering 
of  the  public  lands  as  grants  to  states,  counties,  and 
railroads,  to  the  extent  of  millions  of  acres. 

Franklin  Pierce  was  inaugurated  President  of  the 
United  States  in  March,  1853 ;  and,  during  the  first 
session  of  Congress,  the  House  of  Representatives 
voted  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  as  a 
free  gift  to  all  who  can  and  will  accept  of  it. 

The  immense  riches  we  possess  in  the  Public 
Domain,  which,  if  applied  for  the  benefit  of  all, 
especially  in  the  way  I  have  indicated,  would  free 
us  from  most  of  those  threatening  evils  which  are 
fearfully  hastening  us  on  the  inevitable  march  of 
national  decay,  has  induced  me  to  offer  the  foregoing 
comparison,  to  show  how  carefully  and  equitably 
this  Domain  was  guarded  for  the  promotion  of  vast 
national  objects,  up  to  the  time  when  Gen.  Andrew 
Jackson  was  elected  to  the  Presidency ;  and  with 
what  pertinacity,  .since  that  time,  it  has  been  squan- 
dered and  misapplied  for  the  benefit  of  the  few.     To 


154  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

me  it  appears  plain,  that  if  the  lands,  yet  remain- 
ing unsold,  should  be  graduated  in  price  according 
to  their  real  value,  and  sold  in  proportion  to  all  actual 
demands  for  settlement,  speculation  would  cease 
upon  the  Public  Domain,  and,  in  the  end,  the  indus- 
trious farmer,  in  whose  hands  alone  these  lands  can 
be  rendered  valuable  to  the  country  by  their  pro- 
ductiveness, would  obtain  them  at  a  cheaper  rate  than 
by  reaching  them  through  the  intermediate  agency 
of  speculators,  in  the  "  free  gift "  scheme. 

Having  already  seen  that  the  pre-emption  laws 
really  lay  at  the  root  of  all  the  disasters  of  the 
country  in  the  year  1840,  it  would  be  folly,  if  not 
madness,  after  the  experience  we  have  had  in  these 
pre-emption  laws,  to  attempt  the  system  which  looks 
to  free  gifts  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  on  the 
false  pretence  of  benefitting  the  poor  man.  The 
true  policy  of  our  Government  consists  in  a  strict 
adherence  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  Con- 
stitution, whereby  all  citizens  are  acknowledged  to 
possess  equal  rights  in  relation  to  the  national 
property,  as  well  as  to  political  protection.  Let  us, 
then,  repeal  all  laws  which  have  a  partial  bearing ; 
aiming,  with  singleness  of  purpose,  at  the  enactment 
of  such  only  as  will  secure  the  greatest  interests,  and 
sustain  the  equal  rights  of  the  whole  people.  The 
result  of  this  general  policy  cannot  fail  to  be  uni- 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  155 

versally  beneficial  upon  every  interest.  Let  the 
Public  Domain  become  settled  by  the  force  of  pro- 
gressive population,  as  dictated  alike  by  reason, 
justice,  and  the  voice  of  nature  !  A  population  that 
doubles  itself  every  twenty-five  years,  will  not  be 
long  in  bringing  our  Public  Domain  under  cultiva- 
tion, without  causing  any  violent  reaction  upon  the 
interests  of  the  country.  But  more  especially  would 
the  peculiar  applications  I  have  proposed  for  the 
Public  Domain  enhance  this  general  beneficial 
result.  Under  such  a  course  of  action,  we  should 
soon  see  large  towns  growing  up  in  the  southern 
states,  from  the  enlargement  of  the  means  of 
mechanical  labour;  commerce  would  no  longer  have 
the  effect  of  concentrating  the  business  interests  of 
the  country  into  one  or  two  large  capitals;  the 
Atlantic  cities  of  the  South  would  rise  to  a  condition 
of  prosperity  approaching  to  that  of  those  of  the 
North ;  the  interior  towns  would  flourish  in  all  of  the 
states ;  and,  by  offering  to  all  the  means  of  happiness, 
without  the  necessity  of  too  closely  concentrating 
the  population  at  any  one  point,  they  would  secure 
us  against  the  social  and  political  evils  which  are 
the  necessary  growth  of  all  large  cities,  whilst  we 
should  be  more  generally  placed  in  the  most  enlarged 
enjoyment  of  the  good  connected  with  them. 


156  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

The  institution  of  slavery,  when  looked  at  in  all 
its  bearings  upon  ourselves,  either  within  our 
boundaries,  or  at  a  distance  beyond  them,  is  of  a 
character  that  must  be  fully  inquired  into  before  we 
can  understand  the  magnitude  of  the  evil  we  are 
nursing  for  the  destruction  of  the  peace,  safety-,  and 
happiness  of  the  nation.  If,  in  this  inquiry,  it  has 
been  proved  that  the  prosperity  of  the  nation  is 
endangered  b}^  this  institution,  then  the  most  appro- 
priate national  means  to  remove  the  evil,  ought  to 
be  used  with  the  greatest  energy,  upon  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  high  natural  law  of  self-preservation. 
But  while  the  application  of  this  law  is  made  the 
basis  of  national  action,  neither  justice  nor  humanity 
must  be  lost  sight  of;  especially  when  a  captive  is 
to  be  dealt  with.  The  nature  of  the  captivity  must 
be  duly  considered,  and  the  security  of  all  the  safe 
and  practicable  immunities  of  the  dependent  must 
be  strictly  guarded  by  national  honour.  If  the  cap- 
tive have  any  rights,  whether  by  race  or  nation, 
then  we  cannot  deal  with  him.  per sonalhj  in  protect- 
ing these  rights.  The  honour  and  dignity  of  thei* 
nation  require  that  he  should  be  dealt  with  nationaUy, 
or  generically. 

I  contend  that  the  brute  force  by  which  the  Afri- 
can was  torn  from  his  native  land  does  not  destroy 
his  nationality  of  character,  any  more  than  the  cap- 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  157 

ture  of  an  enemy  in  war  would  destroy  the  nation- 
ality of  the  captive.  But  this  brute  force  gives  a 
peculiarity  to  African  captivity  that  does  not  belong 
to  captivity  occurring  where  a  formidable  resistance 
is  made,  and  where,  if  justice  is  not  done  to  the 
vanquished,  that  justice  will  be  demanded  as  a 
national  right  by  the  commonwealth  of  nations, 
agreeably  to  the  doctrines  of  international  law. 
But  now,  when  nearly  all  the  civilized  nations  of 
the  earth  have  united  in  the  determination  that  this 
brute  force  shall  no  longer  prevail  against  Africa,  I 
contend  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  are  in 
honour  bound  to  decide  what  this  African  captivity 
is ;  whether  it  is  a  merely  personal  captivity,  or 
whether  abstract  justice  still  secures  to  the  African 
his  national  rights,  notwithstanding  his  present 
inability  to  maintain  them. 

If  the  brute  force  that  brought  the  race  amongst 
us  does  not  destroy  its  national  rights,  then,  as  the 
fundamental  laws  of  the  Union  do  not  confer  upon 
Congress  the  power  to  decide  the  question  of  African 
captivity,  I  have  proposed  that  it  shall  take  stops  to 
secure  a  national  convention  to  decide  upon  the 
actual  condition  of  the  slave,  and  that  this  conven- 
tion, if  it  should  determine  to  restore  the  African 
to  his  nationality,  should  at  once  organize  a  Board 
of  Trustees  for  the  government  of  tlie  Public  Do- 


158  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

main;  the  moiety  of  the  proceeds  of  which  are  at 
once  sufficient  and  highly  appropriate  to  the  task 
of  restoring  the  American  African  to  his  native 
land.  This  I  propose  as  absolutely  essential  to  the 
preservation  of  the  peace,  the  safety,  the  happiness, 

THE  PROSPERITY,  THE  MORAL  DIGNITY,  AND  THE  HONOUR 
OF   THE   NATION. 

But,  should  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
refuse  to  aid  in  bringing  about  the  application  of  the 
necessary  portion  of  the  riches  derivable  from  the 
Public  Domain,  to  the  purpose  of  securing  to  the 
African  his  nationality,  and  to  this  country  the  fame 
and  glory  proper  to  a  consistent,  Christian  and 
humane  people;  should  it  prefer  to  confer  these 
riches  upon  the  land  speculator ;  should  the  people 
agree  to  submit  to  this  unprofitable,  unholy,  and 
unpatriotic  decision,  and  refuse,  in  their  sovereignty, 
to  take  the  necessary  steps  to  secure  the  repeal  of 
such  squandering  laws  as  have  already  passed  the 
House  of  Eepresentative  of  the  United  States  at  the 
present  session;  should  they  rather  choose  to  shut 
their  eyes  upon  the  encroachments  of  a  corrupt 
Administration,  as  they  did  during  the  approach 
and  consummation  of  the  declaration  of  war  against 
Mexico ;  should  they,  in  sleepy  and  enervated  apa- 
thy, look  upon  the  subjugation  of  their  rights  with 
a  sluggard  indifference ;  should  they,  in  addition  to 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  159 

all  this,  look  upon  the  brute  force  which  is  mnde  to 
bear  upon  the  African  within  our  borders,  and  which 
wrested  hira  from  his  native  land,  as  being  compatr 
ible  with  the  dignity  and  honour  of  the  nation ; 
should  they  determine  to  regard  his  natural  rights 
with  as  much  indifference  as  they  regard  their  own 
sovereign  and  republican  rights,  in  spite  of  the  noble 
evidence  which  Liberia  has  already  given  of  its 
capacity,  when  enlightened,  for  self-government :  — 
then  I  proceed  to  examine,  not  only  the  probable 
result  of  such  ignoble  action  upon  the  downward 
progress  of  our  own  Government,  but  also,  and  more 
especially,  the  inevitable  future  of  slavery  in  the 
United  States,  if  rendered  permanent  by  our  apathy 
and  corruption. 

In  relation  to  our  own  Government,  it  has  been 
shown  that  lawlessness  is  now  permitted  to  riot  in 
defiance  of  statutes  by  which  the  acts  of  the  outlaw 
are  declared  to  constitute  trespass  or  treason,  as  the 
case  may  be ;  that  the  Government  has  not  the 
power  nor  the  will  to  punish  such  offences ;  that  the 
power  to  do  so  is  lost  by  the  undue  extension  of 
territory,  while  this  extension  of  territory  continues 
to  be  sought  for  by  unjustifiable  means,  as  has  been 
shown  in  the  annexation  of  Texas  and  the  acqui- 
sitions secured  by  the  Mexican  War — all  with  a 
view  to  the  extension  of  slave  territory.     The  same 


IGO  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

thing  is  proved  by  the  attempts,  of  a  most  unlawful 
character,  which  have  been  recently  made  upon  the 
Island  of  Cuba,  and  upon  Sonora  and  Lower  Cali- 
fornia, by  citizens  of  the  United  States  —  these 
unworthy  traitor  citizens  undoubtedly  pursuing  their 
schemes  with  a  twofold  anticipation :  first,  that,  hy 
the  annexation  of  these  provinces  to  the  United 
States,  they  would  increase  the  area  of  slave  terri- 
tory, and  secondly,  that  a  rich  harvest  would  be 
reaped  from  their  own  previous  creation  of  new 
state  debts,  which,  like  that  of  Texas,  might  be 
afterwards  assumed  by  the  United  States,  to  their 
dishonest  profit. 

That  these  trespasses  upon  the  rights  of  other 
nations  will  continue  so  long  as  the  laws  against 
such  transgressions  are  not  strictly  enforced,  cannot 
be  doubted.  It  is  far  more  than  probable  that  the 
Island  of  Cuba  and  all  Mexico  may  be  brought  under 
the  sovereignty  ol  the  United  States  by  just  such 
means  as  were  resorted  to  in  Texas,  especially  if 
the  United  States  should  consent  to  pay  the  debts 
which  these  traitors  to  their  country,  the  filibusters, 
contract,  by  issuing  bonds  carrying  with  them  an 
exorbitant  premium.  If  this  policy  of  the  acquisi- 
tion of  territory  is  not  arrested,  and  the  Island  of 
Cuba  and  Lower  California  should  be  annexed  with 
the  intention  of  extendino;  the  limits  of  slave  terri- 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  IGl 

toiy,   (wlilcli  would  be  the  inevitable  consequence 
of  such  acquisition,)  then,  a  strong  sentiment  in  the 
North  opposed  to  the  extension  of  slavery,  which 
now  lies  dormant  under  the  restraint  of  the  Consti- 
tution, would  be  aroused  to  prevent  that  extension, 
and  we  should  immediately  find  the  people  divided 
into  two  great  political  parties — the  slavery  and  the 
anti-slavery  parties.   The  Abolitionists  have  a  politi- 
cal organization  even  now,  and  if  such  a  state  of 
things  should  occur,  who  can  doubt  that  they  would 
gain  the  ascendant  in  political  power  ?    Then,  would 
not  the  slave-holder  find  himself  under  the  necessity 
of  defending  his  constitutional  rights,  even  if  their 
defence  should  demand  the  last  argument  of  kings  ? 
The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  gives  Con- 
gress no  power  to  control  the  institution  of  slaver}' : 
it   belongs   exclusively   to   the   sovereignty   of  the 
states.    Therefore  it  is  plain,  that  any  political  power 
that  the  Abolitionists  might  bring  to  bear  uj)on  the 
slave  states,  in  violation  of  the  sovereignty  of  tliese 
states,  would  lead  to  a  dissolution  of  the  Union  ;  and, 
as   the   Abolitionists,    as    a   political   party,   could 
enforce  no  exactions  upon  the  slave  states,  without 
creating  a  civil  war,  their  zeal  for  the  benefit  of  the 
slave  or  the  honour  of  the  country,  tends  in  a  wrong 
direction  ;  for  the  resistance  to  the  admission  of  new 
slave  states  into  the  Union,  wliich,  under  the  circnni- 

L 


162  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

stances  just  mentioned,  the  North  would  feel  bound 
to  make,  could  have  no  other  possible  effect  than  the 
dissolution  of  the  Union,  which  might  probably  be 
effected  by  common  consent  at  first. 

Such  must  be  the  consequences  to  this  Union, 
however  much  the  patriot  may  regret  the  necessity, 
if  the  agitations  which  have  already  nearly  convulsed 
the  nation  to  dissolution,  are  aggravated  by  the  early 
acquisition  of  Lower  California,  with  other  portions 
of  Mexico,  or  the  Island  of  Cuba.  Indeed,  it  may 
fairly  be  asserted,  that  the  question  of  slaA^ery  has 
already  weakened  the  bonds  of  union,  and  without 
any  further  acquisition  of  territory,  may  lead  to  a 
civil  war ;  especially  as  perfect,  full,  and  immediate 
emancipation,  together  with  the  political  enfran- 
chisement of  the  slave,  is  demanded  by  the  most 
inflammatory,  fanatical,  and  anti-constitutional  por- 
tion of  the  Abolition  party.  It  must  be  acknow- 
ledged, however  reluctantly  we  admit  the  fact,  that 
the  parties  which  have  controlled  our  destinies, 
with  a  single  eye  to  selfish  purposes,  to  the  exclusion 
of  the  present  and  future  interests  of  the  country, 
have  driven  this  question  into  a  position  by  which 
the  union  of  the  states  is  most  seriously  endangered ; 
for  we  cannot  suppose,  on  the  one  hand,  that  the 
Abolitionists  will  cease  agitating  it,  or,  on  the  other, 
that  the  slave  states  will  bow,  in  their  sovereignty, 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  163 

to  the  will  of  the  Abolitionist.  The  only  possible 
mode  of  settling  this  question,  if  slavery  is  to  re- 
main permanent,  seems  to  be  the  separation  of  the 
free  states  from  the  slave  states. 

Yet,  even  should  this  agitation  lead  to  a  separa- 
tion of  the  Union,  with  all  the  disgrace  attached  to 
so  ignoble  a  deed  —  whether  the  result  be  accom- 
plished by  common  consent  or  civil  war  —  still  the 
progress  of  time  will  develop  the  destiny  of  the 
North  and  the  South  in  relation  to  government, 
population,  and  all  other  things  appertaining  to  a 
nation.  Now,  in  case  this  separation  is  brought 
about,  as  slavery  connects  itself  with  the  South  as 
a  theoretical  necessity,  let  us  examine  what  time 
w^U  do  for  the  South  under  the  more  favourable 
alternative  —  that  of  a  peaceable  separation.  As  I 
have  proposed  a  hundred  years  for  the  removal  of 
the  African,  we  will  limit  this  examination  of  future 
probabilities  to  a  like  period  of  time.  Allowing 
thirty-three  years  for  the  slave  population  to  double 
itself,  3,500,000  slaves  would  increase  in  numbers, 
in  one  hundred  years,  to  more  than  28,000,000.  For 
the  better  security  of  the  master  it  would  be  requi- 
site that  this  increased  population  should  be  as 
widely  dispersed  as  possible.  Acquisitions  of  terri- 
tory would  become  essentially  necessary  fur  this 
purpose.     As  it  would  be  impossible  to  acquire  this 


164  OUR    WUOLE    DUTY 

territory  from  the  North,  it  would  be  sought  after 
in  the  South.  Mexico  would  be  subdued  for  the 
extension  of  slavery,  if  practicable.  If  not  of  easy 
conquest  as  a  whole,  she  would  be  attacked  at 
points  where  she  is  powerless  for  defence,  as  is  now 
the  case  in  Lower  California.  Why  are  our  ships 
of  war  not  now  on  the  coast  of  Lower  California, 
protecting  Sonora  against  the  traitors  who  have 
disturbed  the  peace  of  a  friendly  nation  ?  The  next 
step  would  probably  be,  the  acquisition  of  the 
Island  of  Cuba.  The  moment  this  step  is  taken, 
the  pains  and  penalties  of  the  South,  in  consequence 
of  her  unyielding  grasp  of  slavery,  will  begin  to  be 
seriously  felt;  for  it  will  be  found  that  a  hatred  of 
the  institutions  of  slavery  w^ill  not  cease  to  exist  in 
the  North.  Although  no  violent  manifestations  of 
this  hatred  may  be  allowed,  yet  every  legal  means 
will  be  resorted  to  in  order  to  keep  the  slave  govern- 
ment in  constant  fear  of  consequences.  The  legal 
means  which  the  North  will  adopt  to  render  slavery 
as  irksome  as  possible  to  the  South  will  be,  the 
appropriation  of  all  the  unsold  portion  of  the  Public 
Domain,  in  aiding  the  free  coloured  man  to  go  to 
Africa,  as  well  as  enabling  every  fugitive  slave  to 
join  him  in  building  up  civilization  on  that  conti- 
nent; for,  it  must  be  remembered,  that,  when 
African  progress  is  once  put  fully  under  way  by 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  3  65 

penetrating  the  interior  with  railroads,  and  establish- 
ing free  states,  and  when  commerce  becomes  active 
between  Africa  and  the  Northern  United  States, 
every  free  coloured  man  will  carry  Ids  memory  with 
him  to  the  land  of  his  forefathers,  and  that  father- 
land will  be  found  to  afford  the  best  asylum  and 
the  most  enlarged  freedom  for  the  fugitive  slave. 
Labourers  will  be  in  demand  there,  and  capital  as 
well  as  feeling  will  be  engaged  in  transporting 
all  fugitives  there,  and  encouraging  the  slave  to 
abscond,  to  swell  their  numbers. 

There  is  no  escape  from  the  conclusions  I  have 
now  arrived  at.  It  must  be  recollected  that  the 
inconsiderate  and  pertinacious  agitators  of  the  slave 
question,  as  it  affects  these  United  States  and  espe- 
cially the  slave-holder  and  slave  states,  have  already 
"  carried  the  war  into  Africa,"  and  there  will  be  no 
peace  upon  any  other  principle  than  such  as  I  pro- 
pose: —  Justice  to  Africa  by  a  common  effort  of 
justice  to  ourselves ! 

The  moment  an  effort  is  made  by  the  Southern 
states  to  annex  the  Island  of  Cuba,  the  North  will 
protest.  It  will  be  claimed  that  the  Island  of  Cuba 
is  the  principal  of  a  group  lying  upon  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  and  the  Caribbean  Sea,  belonging  to  the 
entire  continent  of  America,  and  having  relations 
in   point   of  interest   common  to    both    North   and 


16G  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

South  America  ;  that  the  colonial  vassalage  in  which 
these  islands  have  long  been  held  by  European 
powers,  has  exerted  an  oppressive  bearing  upon  the 
prosperity,  not  of  the  islands  only,  but  the  continent 
also;  for,  as  these  powers  regulate  the  commerce 
of  the  islands,  the  exaction  of  duties  and  tonnage  by 
them  has  continually  operated  to  the  prejudice  of 
the  nations  on  the  continent  to  which  these  appen- 
dages properly  belong  by  nature  ;  that  the  time  has 
arrived  when  neither  the  Northern  United  States, 
Mexico,  South  America,  nor  Central  America,  can 
ever  allow  the  Southern  states  to  annex  the  Island 
of  Cuba.  It  will  be  given  as  a  reason  for  this 
decision,  that  the  mercantile  exactions  of  the 
Southern  states,  after  annexation,  would  be  equally 
prejudicial  to  the  interests  of  all  the  nations  of  the 
American  continent.  It  would  be  claimed,  there- 
fore, on  the  principle  of  self-defence  and  the  balance 
of  power,  that  these  islands  must  be  endowed  with 
an  independent  nationality,  under  the  guarantee  of 
all  the  continental  nations ;  and  the  independence 
of  the  Island  of  Cuba  from  all  immediate  control 
by  any  continental  power  would  be  not  only  of  the 
highest  importance,  but  actually  essential  to  the 
maintenance  of  a  national  government  in  the  West 
Indies.  Besides,  it  will  be  urged,  that,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  growing  importance  of  the  civilized 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  167 

government  in  Africa,  the  independence  of  these 
islands  has  become  necessary,  to  prevent  African 
influence  from  controlling  what  really  belongs  to 
America.  It  cannot  be  doubted  for  one  moment 
that,  if  Africa  should  receive  no  other  aid  in  the 
progress  of  civilization  than  that  which  the  Coloniza- 
tion Society  can  give  her,  and  if  the  negro  should 
still  be  held  in  bondage  on  these  islands,  three 
generations  will  not  pass  away  before  the  roar  of 
African  cannon  will  resound  upon  the  shores  of  the 
Island  of  Cuba,  demanding  the  restitution  of  the 
slave ! 

"When  this  day  shall  come,  and  come  it  will  if  the 
negro  continues  in  bondage,  then  the  great  day  of 
trial  for  the  South  will  also  be  at  hand.  With 
28,000,000  of  a  servile  race  in  her  fields,  in  her 
forests,  in  her  dwellings,  listening  to  the  battle 
shouts  of  their  free  brethren  re-echoing  along  her 
shores,  where  will  she  be  ?  "Whither  will  she  turn 
for  aid  ?  The  pillar  of  cloud  by  day,  the  pillar  of 
fire  by  night,  will  bewilder  her  march  and  her 
councils;  the  waters,  long  piled  up  on  either  hand 
till  an  oppressed  race  has  fulfilled  its  destiny  in  the 
land  of  its  servitude,  will  collapse  !  Hope  pales, 
and  humanity  shudders  at  the  scene.  Let  us  draw 
the  curtain. 


168  OUR    TTUOLE     DUTY 


CHAPTER  VII. 

A   PLAIN   TALK   WITH   THE    FREE    MAN   OF    COLOUR   IN    THE 
UNITED  STATES. 

Motives  for  the  African  Exodus  —  The  Slave-master  generally  kind,  yet 
Humanity  demands  Emancipation  —  The  Establishment  of  African 
Nationality  essential  both  to  Freeman  and  Slave — Wrong  Views  and 
Practice  of  the  Abolitionists  —  Political  and  Social  Equality  impossible 
for  the  Free  Coloured  Man  here — Consequence  of  attempting  it — America 
has  nothing  to  offer  him  which  he  should  accept  in  exchange  for  African 
Independence — Political  objects  of  Abolitionists — Unconditional  Eman- 
cipation would  cause  Civil  War  —  Condition  of  the  African  in  Civil  AVar 

—  Possibility  of  a  peaceful  Separation  of  the  Union  —  Condition  of  the 
African  Race  in  that  case — Two  distinct  Races  cannot  dwell  together  on 
a  footing  of  Equality — True  Political  Position  of  the  African  in 
America  —  He  is  still  a  Captive  —  Rights  of  Captives — Peculiarities  of 
African  Captivity,  and  their  Political  Consequences — Reasons  why  the 
Coloured  JIan  should  favour  Colonization  and  African  Nationality,  even 
if  Public  Aid  be  denied  him — Climate  of  Africa  compared  with  our  own 
Country  —  Danger  of  Delay — British  Settlements  —  Effects  of  African 
Progress  on  Slavery — Consequences  of  attempting  to  attain  Political 
Power  here — Folly  of  depending  upon  National  Philanthropy — Is  there 
Labour  enough  for  all  ? — Proposed  Exploration  of  Africa  by  Free  Blacks 

—  Its  vast  possible  Consequences  —  Concluding  Appeals. 

In  considering  the  measures  proposed  for  the 
exodus  of  the  African  —  measures  which  aim  at  the 
removal  of  the  whole  race,  both  freeman  and  slave, 
in  the  space  of  one  hundred  years —  the  full  under- 
standiuG:  of  the  scheme  and  his  own  connection 
with  it,  will  be  of  the  utmost  interest  to  the  free 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  109 

coloured  man ;  and  his  hearty  co-operation  will  be 
of  the  highest  importance  to  himself  and  to  Africa. 
In  fact,  that  co-operation  will  be  essential  to  the 
effective  execution  of  the  scheme  at  the  commence- 
ment, and,  therefore,  to  the  ultimate  success  of  the 
entire  plan. 

With  you,  my  coloured  friends,  especially  those 
of  you  who  are  freemen,  I  desire  to  have  a  talk 
upon  this  all-important  subject  of  your  exodus 
to  your  fatherland,  in  order  that  you  may  fully 
understand  the  reasons  which  render  your  departure 
not  only  desirable  to  the  nation,  but  of  the  highest 
importance  to  yourselves,  and  essential  to  the  future 
elevation  of  your  race. 

The  Abolitionist  has  secured  your  ear  by  his 
efforts  in  claiming  for  you  rights  that  he  can  never 
establish,  and  has  thus  induced  you  to  consider  him 
as  your  best  friend.  In  this  regard  for  him,  you  do 
your  own  race  a  direct  injury,  which  falls  with 
especial  weight  upon  your  enslaved  brother  of  the 
South.  You  cause  the  point  of  the  nail  that  closes 
his  shackles  to  be  turned  in  and  clinched  into  his 
very  flesh.  The  claims  of  the  Abolitionist  impel 
tlie  master  of  the  slave  to  struggle  perpetually  to 
secure  a  broader  field  and  longer  duration  for  the 
enchainment  of  your  race,  than  he  would  do,  if  the 
continual  agitation  of  the  subject  did  not  keep  him 


170  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

in  a  state  of  perpetual  alarm,  lest  his  legal  and  con- 
stitutional rights  as  a  citizen  may  be  wrested  from 
him,  by  the  force  of  a  popular  clamour,  based  upon 
the  plea  of  humanity,  and  abstract  but  impracticable 
justice. 

That  most  admirable  book.  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin, 
written  in  open  hostility  to  the  Southern  institutions, 
is  truthful  in  representing  that  sympathy,  kindness, 
and  generosity  really  predominate  in  the  general 
character  of  the  slave-master;  so  that  feeling  and 
good  treatment  of  the  slave  constitute  the  rule, 
while  the  horrible  abuses  and  cruelties  not  less 
vividly  portrayed  in  the  work,  are  but  the  excep- 
tions. But  these  exceptions  are  of  such  a  character 
as  should  induce  a  generous  and  humane  people  to 
seek,  by  proper  means,  the  emancipation  of  your 
enslaved  brethren.  And,  even  of  your  own  condi- 
tion, it  may  be  remarked  with  propriety,  that  the 
wealth,  the  education,  and  the  comforts  of  living 
which  some  of  you  attain  to  in  the  North,  are 
exceptions  to  the  general  rule  of  oppression,  dis- 
ability, and  suffering,  which  even  as  freemen  you 
endure.  Your  situation  here,  as  freemen  or  slaves, 
requires  that  you  should  lo6k  to  your  own  land  for 
nationality  and  an  open  road  to  honourable  advance- 
ment. Here  it  never  has  been,  never  will  be,  never 
can  be  offered  to  you. 

Mrs.  Bird,  a  character  in  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  is 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  171 

represented  as  receiving  a  temporary  visit  at  home 
from  her  husband,  during  the  session  of  the  Ohio 
Legislature,  he  being  a  senator  of  that  state.  She 
learns  that  he  had  voted  for  a  law  for  the  arrest  of 
fugitive  slaves  in  the  state  of  Ohio,  and  their  return 
to  their  owners.  Taking  the  humane  side  of  the 
question,  and  stating  to  her  husband  that  he  him- 
self would  not  obey  the  law,  she  grows  so  earnest 
and  eloquent  in  her  appeals,  that  her  husband 
exclaims, 

"  Mary !  Mary,  my  dear !  Let  me  reason  with 
you. 

"  I  hate  reasoning,  John,"  replies  the  wife,  "  espe- 
cially reasoning  on  such  subjects.  There's  a  way 
you  political  folks  have  of  coming  round  and  round 
a  plain,  right  thing,  and  you  don't  believe  in  it 
yourselves,  when  it  comes  to  practice.  I  know  you 
well  enough,  John ;  you  don't  believe  it 's  right  any 
more  than  I  do ;  and  you  wouldn't  do  it  any  sooner 
than  I." 

In  this  abolition  argument,  humanity  is  made  to 
look  no  further  than  to  the  isolated  cases  of  sujQfer- 
ing,  and  a  desire  for  liberty,  upon  the  part  of  your 
race.  The  whole  practical  result  of  the  plot  of  the 
Cabin  is  this  :  —  George  Harris,  Eliza  his  wife,  with 
Jim  and  his  mother,  all  fugitive  slaves,  are  carried 
forward  by  the  aid  of  Abolitionists,  to  Upper  San- 


172  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

dusky,  and  there  placed  on  board  a  steamboat,  on 
their  way  to  Canada  and  freedom.  Now,  in  the 
whole  course  of  this  abduction,  the  laws  of  the 
land  are  evaded  by  a  cunning  dictated  by  humanity, — 
by  the  appeals  of  individual  suffering,  painted  in 
the  strongest  colours.  When  George  Harris  declares 
he  would  purchase  his  liberty,  if  necessary,  at  the 
expense  of  the  lives  of  his  pursuers,  or  die  in  the 
attempt,  the  humanity  of  the  Abolitionists  sympa- 
thizes with  him  most  fully ;  but  when  the  necessity 
actually  occurs,  and  Loker  is  shot,  their  cunning 
leaves  Georixe  Harris  and  Jim  to  fidit  their  own 
battles,  and  take  all  the  responsibility.  Now 
observe,  also,  that  when  the  fight  is  over,  the 
same  humanity  displays  itself  towards  the  wounded 
slave-catcher,  in  spite  of  the  despicable  character  of 
the  ruffian.  Surely  you  must  yourselves  perceive 
that  a  humanity,  however  intense  in  your  favour, 
that  recommends  violent  resistance  on  the  part  of 
your  brethren,  the  slaves,  would  soon  be  transferred 
to  the  wounded  of  the  white  race,  if  this  resistance 
should  extend  itself  beyond  an  isolated  case. 

In  the  claims  of  the  Abolitionist,  set  forth  in  the 
elaboration  of  the  story  of  these  fugitives,  reason  is 
discarded,  and  humanity  alone  is  permitted  to  break 
down  every  other  consideration.  It  even  causes  a 
grave  senator,  who,  under  the  influence  of  reason  and 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  lid 

jDatriotism,  has  just  voted  for  a  fugitive  slave  law  as 
the  best  means  of  securing  the  peace  and  happiness 
of  the  whole  nation,  to  bow  in  humiliation,  in  obe- 
dience to  the  claims  of  humanity,  and  to  violate 
that  law  for  the  happiness  of  an  individual !  Can 
you  not  perceive  that  a  plan  w^hich  proposes  to 
elevate  your  social  and  political  condition  as  a 
people,  by  means  that  can  be  applied  to  individual 
cases  only,  must  be  of  little  or  no  service  to  you  as 
a  distinct  race,  with  whom  not  even  the  semblance 
of  social  equality  will  ever  be  permitted  here? 

You  can  never  raise  yourselves  into  political 
power,  or  social  standing  in  this  country,  except  by 
force;  and  if  force  should  give  you  that  power 
(which  I  presume  it  never  will),  you  would  place  us 
under  a  control  as  servile  and  exacting  as  toe  now 
exercise  over  you. 

Do  not  answer  me  as  Ilazael  did  the  Hebrew 
Prophet  of  old,  —  "Is  thy  servant  a  dog  that  he 
should  do  this  great  thing?"  Recollect  that  you 
have  already  learned  to  flourish  the  whip  over  your 
own  blood  and  kin,  in  the  southern  states,  where 
pome  of  you  have  grown  rich,  and  are  even  now 
slave  owners. 

Such  are  the  admonitions  of  nature,  and  the 
experience  of  the  nations  that  have  felt  the  evils 
which   arise,  wherever  distinct  races  of  men  have 


174  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

been  commingled  with  each  other  under  one  nation- 
ality. Reason,  too,  proclaims  that  no  human 
power,  short  of  the  active  benevolence  of  the  entire 
people,  can  place  you  in  a  condition  of  social 
equality ;  and  that  even  this  benevolence  can  only 
accomplish  the  result  by  giving  you  a  distinct 
nationality,  which  is  impossible  on  the  American 
continent.  George  Harris  tells  you  this,  after  the 
experience  that  taught  him  how  limited  w^as  the 
power  of  his  friends,  the  Abolitionists.  He  tells 
them  that,  after  having  considered  the  subject  well, 
he  does  not  desire  to  accept  even  all  that  they  could 
secure  for  him  in  America.  He  tells  them  that  the 
scheme  of  colonization  in  Liberia  promises  the  only 
hope  of  nationality  and  emancipation  for  his  enslaved 
and  suflfering  race.  Does  it  not  strike  you  that 
these  abolitionist  appeals  for  your  political  elevation, 
by  which  your  sympathies  are  enlisted,  your  hopes 
raised,  and  your  desires  inflamed  into  the  belief  that 
you  can  do  much  for  the  cause  of  freedom  by  pro- 
claiming your  own  rights, — does  it  not  strike  you,  I 
say,  that  these  appeals  look  more  to  the  political 
agitation  that  may  elevate  white  men  to  power  in 
the  government,  than  towards  anything  that  the}'- 
can  practically  accomplish  for  your  benefit  ?  Surely, 
if  you  understood  the  relations  you  actually  hold 
towards  this  country,  and  remembered  the  i-dct,  that 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  175 

five  out  of  six  of  your  entire  race  in  America 
are  enslaved,  whatever  abstract  claim  to  equality 
may  be  made  for  you,  you  would  see,  at  once,  that 
no  political  party  holding  the  reins  of  power,  which 
should  attempt  your  unconditional  emancipation  and 
political  elevation,  could  produce  any  other  effect 
than  the  dismemberment  of  the  Union,  by  the 
worst  of  all  calamities,  a  civil  war ! 

In  such  a  war,  you  yourselves,  with  no  power  to 
control  events,  would  remain  the  passive  objects  of 
contention.  You  would  be  made  the  sufferers.  In 
such  a  convulsive  scene  of  disaster  and  dismay  as 
the  political  ascendency  of  the  Abolitionist  policy 
would  render  inevitable,  the  only  hope  for  your  race 
would  be  in  the  most  perfect  and  complete  inaction ; 
for,  in  a  struggle  so  fearful,  which  would  shatter  in 
fragments  the  Constitution  of  the  most  free  Govern- 
ment upon  earth,  if  you  should  raise  a  hand  in 
defence  of  what  you  are  taught  to  consider  your 
natural  and  "inalienable  rights;"  if  j'ou  should 
attempt  to  carry  out  the  doctrine  you  are  now  daily 
taught  from  the  pulpit  and  the  rostrum;  that,  an 
opportunity  for  freedom  once  presented,  the  means 
of  resistance,  however  violent,  are  admissible ;  — 
extermination  would  be  your  inevitable  fate. 

The  very  humanity  widely  diffused   throughout 
the  United  States,  which  now  looks  upon  you  as  a 


17G  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

sufferer  labouring  under  many  privations,  and  truly 
commiserates  your  condition,  without  any  obvious 
and  effective  means  of  relieving  you, — would  seek,  in 
such  an  event,  for  objects  of  compassion  among, 
and  expand  itself  in  sympathy  with,  our  own  race, 
of  whose  sufferings  you  would  be  the  authors.  Such 
would  inevitably  be  the  effect  of  any  violent  action 
on  your  part ;  and  this  reaction  would  carry  with 
it  3'our  entire  destruction.  Can  you  doubt  this  ?  If 
you  do,  I  tell  you  that  a  nation  which  systematically, 
and  at  any  cost,  even  that  of  bloodshed,  has  re- 
moved, in  gradual  progression,  one  race  of  men  out 
of  the  way  of  its  advancement,  and  is,  even  now, 
penning  the  remnant  of  that  race  within  the  most 
limited  and  constantly  narrowing  circle ;  if  their 
passions  should  ever  become  excited  by  any  enormi- 
ties committed  by  you,  would  bring  to  bear  upon 
you  the  weight  of  their  power,  to  your  prompt  and 
utter  annihilation ! 

Can  you  not  draw  a  line  of  distinction  between 
the  results  of  the  philanthropy  displaj'ed  by  the 
Abolitionists  in  isolated  cases  of  fugitives  —  which 
is  continually  held  in  your  view  as  proof  of  their 
friendship  and  goodwill  towards  you  —  and  those 
which  would  certainlv  follow  a  national  demonstra- 
tion,  such  as  they  promise  you  ?  Do  you  not  see, 
that,  thus  far,  by  an    unprofitable    agitation,  they 


TO    THE    BLACK     MAN.  1  <  / 

have  produced  nothing  more  than  a  proper  sympathy 
for  your  condition,  which  they  could  have  brought 
about  by  other  and  more  moderate  means,  if  as 
zealously  pursued?  Do  you  not  perceive  that,  by 
awakening  this  feeling  in  a  manner  unnecessarily 
violent  and  irrational,  they  have  tightened  the 
bonds  and  abridged  the  privileges  of  your  enslaved 
brethren  ?  Can  you  even  suppose  for  a  moment, 
that,  if  those  friends  of  yours  ujDon  whom  you  so 
much  rely,  should  ever  succeed  to  the  administration 
of  the  Government,  they  would  attempt  to  effect 
the  realization  of  your  hopes  ?  They  could  not  do 
it.  The  gulf  that  would  stand  wide  open  in  their 
view,  into  which  that  attempt  would  plunge  both 
them  and  you,  would  deter  them  !  The  S2:)ectrcs  of 
a  civil  war  and  crushed  Con^gtitution,  would  rise  to 
frighten  them  from  an}^  measure  of  emancipatioii 
for  the  slave,  or  social  or  political  elevation  for 
yourselves.  That  national  Constitution  which,  as 
they  pretend,  does  not  stand  in  the  way  of  extend- 
ing to  your  race  and  all  mankind  rights  equal  with 
our  own,  would  be  found  to  present  a  barrier  over 
which  they  could  not  leap. 

It  may  happen,  indeed,  though  very  improbable, 
that  a  peaceful  division  of  the  Union  may  take 
place,  if  an  increase  of  slave  states  by  acquisition  of 
slave  territory,  at   the  cost  of  the   Northern   states. 

M 


178  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

should  be  insisted  upon  by  the  South;  as  I  have 
shown  elsewhere.  But,  in  what  respect  would  you 
be  benefited  by  such  a  change?  At  the  South, 
your  brethren  would  still  remain  slaves,  more 
severely  restrained  in  proportion  to  the  efforts  of 
the  Abolitionists  to  favour  their  escape.  At  the 
North,  you  would  remain  as  you  are ;  for  the  North 
would  oppose  your  political  and  social  elevation  as 
strongly  as  the  South  resists  the  emancipation  of 
your  brethren !  Two  distinct  races  never  did,  and 
never  will,  exist  on  an  equality  under  one  single 
government. 

However  much  the  harmony  of  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  may  be  disturbed  by  the  agita- 
tion of  slavery,  that  institution  cannot  be  reached, 
or  the  emancipation  of  the  slave  effected,  by  the 
national  Government,  nor  even  by  the  action  of  any 
number  of  sovereign  states,  aided  by  that  of  the 
Abolitionists  of  all  the  states  combined,  in  defiance 
of  the  laws  of  one  particular  Commonwealth. 

In  calling  your  attention,  then,  to  the  proposed 
plan  for  the  emancipation  and  elevation  of  your 
race,  which  has  been  the  chief  subject  of  the  fore- 
going pages  of  this  book  —  a  plan  which,  unlike 
that  of  the  Abolitionists,  is  both  general  and  prac- 
ticable— allow  me  to  enter  with  you  into  an  inquiry 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  179 

as  to  what  your  natural  and  political  rights  in  this 
country  really  are. 

The  first  question  that  naturally  presents  itself  in 
a  national  point  of  view,  with  relation  to  your  claim  of 
citizeiwhip  in  this  country,  is  this  :  — Are  you  still  a 
captive  here  or  are  you  not  ?  That  your  ancestors 
came  here  as  captives,  none  will  deny  ;  and  if  it  can- 
not be  shown  that  this  captivity  has  ever  been  an- 
nulled —  if  no  national  proclamation  or  declaration 
of  rights  has  ever  been  specifically  extended  to  your 
race  —  then  you  are,  in  the  eye  of  the  law,  as  much 
a  captive  now,  as  you  were  on  the  first  day  of  your 
captivity ;  and  your  title  to  equal  rights  with  those 
who  hold  you  in  captivity  is  no  stronger  now,  than  it 
was  a  hundred  years  ago ;  so  that,  in  every  correct 
view  of  your  peculiar  captivity,  you  are  still  as  much 
an  African  in  nationality,  as  you  were  in  the  first  days 
of  the  captivity  of  your  race !  No  such  bill  of 
rights  has  ever  been  uttered;  and  therefore  the 
question  must  be  decided  in  the  afiirmative. 

But,  although  it  may  be  said  that  you  have  no 
national  or  lawful  claim  to  citizenship  here,  yet  you 
have  a  strong  claim  upon  the  humanity  and  justice 
of  the  nation,  from  the  peculiar  nature  and  history 
of  your  captivity.  The  fact  that  the  depravity  and 
defenceless  condition  of  the  nations  from  whom  you 
were  originally  dragged  by  force,  have  rendered  them 


180  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

powerless  to  demand  your  restitution,  viewed  in 
connection  with  the  oppressions  to  which  you  have 
been  subjected  in  America,  gives  you  this  indisputable 
claim.  Nor  have  these  unhappy  circumstances 
weakened  in  any  degree  your  national  rights ;  so 
that,  as  long  as  you  are  held  in  confinement,  or  are 
only  allowed  liberty  upon  parole,  the  state  which, 
having  put  you  under  this  restraint,  or  upon  this 
parole,  still  refuses  to  assist  any  of  you  who  desire 
to  return  to  your  proper  nationality  in  accomplishing 
this  purpose,  gives  you  just  cause  of  complaint.  A 
nation  that  measures  out  justice  to  a  captive  only 
when  compelled  to  do  so,  may  still  make  necessity 
an  excuse  for  not  doing  rujld,  but  can  neither  lay 
claim  to  voluntary  justice,  nor  to  self-respect. 

Humanity  prompts  kind  treatment  to  the  captive ; 
but  his  release  may  be  prevented  by  a  higher  law — 
that  of  self-preseri-ation.  In  cases  where  captives 
are  the  subjects  of  a  power  capable  of  demanding 
their  release,  on  the  ground  that  they  owe  allegiance 
to  the  power  making  the  demand,  the  release  may 
be  made  to  depend  conditionally  upon  the  payment 
of  special  damages  received,  expenses  incurred,  or 
any  other  considerations ;  but  a  positive  refusal  to 
release  the  captive  on  proper  terms,  cannot  be 
defended  on  any  other  ground  than  self-preserva- 
tion :  but  when  detained  under    this    pica,  neither 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAX.  181 

the  nation  making  the  demand,  nor  the  captive  him- 
self, has  any  just  cause  of  complaint,  provided  Tie  is 
treated  vnth  humanity. 

There  may  be  cases  of  captivity  in  which  human- 
ity itself  will  bar  the  door,  while  putting  on  sack- 
cloth and  ashes,  and  mourning  over  the  necessity 
that  self-preservation  imposes  on  the  nation,  for  the 
security  of  its  institutions.  You  will  at  once  per- 
ceive how  readily  the  peace  and  happiness  of  a 
nation  might  be  destroyed  by  the,  admission  of  a 
race  of  captives  to  citizenship,  rather  than  restoring 
them  to  their  proper  allegiance;  especially  if  the 
race  should  differ  very  widely  from  the  captors. 
Dangers  may  sometimes  be  found  to  present  them- 
selves from  men  of  the  same  race  being  admitted  into 
a  nation  upon  terms  of  perfect  equality,  on  the 
simple  plea  of  humanity,  without  any  regard  to 
policy.  Indeed,  upon  this  principle,  a  Government 
may  so  put  aside  all  prudent  guards,  that  the  deepest 
designs  of  treason  may  be  perfected  under  the 
appearance  of  perfect  acquiescence  in  the  law,  until, 
by  a  joint  or  combined  effort,  the  Government  may 
be  destroyed  for  want  of  vigilance  at  a  moment 
when  it  believes  itself  perfectly  secure. 

But  your  captivity  is  of  a  character  peculiar  to 
itself.  Your  country  is  too  deeply  degraded  to 
demand  your  restitution  to  your  allegiance ;  the  lim- 


182  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

ited  liberty  you  possess  renders  you  powerless  in  your 
own  defence,  or  the  defence  of  your  slave  brethren, 
and  yields  you  no  opportunity  to  elevate  your  own 
nation,  so  long  as  you  look  for  political  elevation  in 
the  nation  that  oppresses  you.  To  aspire  to  political 
position  in  a  country  in  which  the  condition  of 
negro  slavery  is  rendered  irremediable  by  the  gene- 
ral Government,  under  one  of  the  fundamental 
provisions  of  the  Constitution  itself,  is  sheer  folly : 
and  this  fact  alone  should  he  a  sufficient  reason  to 
induce  you  to  seek  a  nationality  in  your  own  land. 
In  judging  of  the  propriety  of  so  doing,  there  are 
several  considerations  by  which  you  ought  to  be 
governed.  The  nature  and  cause  of  your  oppression 
should  be  your  first  inquiry.  If  you  cannot  find 
any  other  plea  for  your  captivity  than  the  avarice 
of  a  nation,  grasping  at  wealth  and  power  through 
your  labours  and  energies,  your  judgment  ought,  at 
once,  to  dictate  a  yielding  to  necessity,  under  a  full 
conviction  that,  so  long  as  you  allow  yourselves,  or 
can  be  made,  to  minister  to  this  avarice,  your  oppres- 
sion and  that  of  your  enslaved  brethren  will  con- 
tinue. You  must  recollect  that  you  were  stolen 
from  your  country;  and,  for  the  reason  that  that 
country  could  not  punish  the  thief,  you  were  openly 
acknowledged  to  be  stolen  property,  in  the  shape 
and  form  of  human  beings !     Yes !  men  who  were 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  183 

the  subjects  of  nations  claiming  for  their  rule  of 
moral  conduct  the  teachings  of  Christianity.  Mer- 
chants governed  by  the  laws  of  Christian  nations, 
have  traded  in  your  flesh  from  first  to  last,  with  no 
other  consideration  for  you  than  the  pieces  of  silver 
you  would  sell  for !  And  your  value  was  found  in 
the  capacity  you  have  for  labour! 

You  are  valued  as  much  for  the  power  you  have 
to  labour  now,  as  you  were  then  ;  so  that,  to  secure 
the  full  benefit  of  your  labours,  you  have  been,  you 
are,  and  you  ever  will  be,  denied  all  political  and 
social  elevation  or  social  equality  in  this  country. 
What  plea  can  overthrow  this  argument  in  favour 
of  compelling  your  services,  while  unscrupulous 
worshippers  of  mammon  are,  with  few  exceptions, 
the  leading  politicians  who  seek  to  administer  the 
Government  for  selfish  ends  ?  In  the  pursuit  of 
political  power  by  statesmen  of  this  stamp,  all  good 
example  is  ridiculed ;  the  future  remains  a  sealed 
book,  and  the  present  is  regarded  only  for  the  spoils 
of  office. 

If  the  cries  and  anguish  of  your  kindred  when 
torn  from  their  homes ;  if  the  horrors  of  the  slave 
ship ;  if  the  crushed  and  broken  heart  of  the  victim 
of  rapacity ;  if  his  shoulders,  bruised  and  lacerated 
under  the  lash  of  the  task-master;  if  pity  and 
commiseration  for  your  hapless  and  forlorn  opprcs- 


1 84  0  U  R     W  II  0  L  E     D  U  T  Y 

sion  —  if  all  these  things  have  not  sufficed  to  arrest 
your  captivity  even  to  this  hour,  where  is  your  future 
hope  ?  If  a  powerful  nation  —  a  nation  that  ought 
to  be  as  magnanimous  as  it  is  great  —  has  failed  to 
inquire  into  the  means  that  should  relieve  the 
oppressed ;  if  it  has  failed  to  ofier  to  a  degraded 
nation  a  compensation  for  the  wrongs  that  have 
been  heaped  upon  her ;  even  refusing  to  follow  the 
example  of  the  leading  European  powers,  by  acknow- 
ledging the  American  colonies  in  Africa,  founded  by 
humanity,  supported  by  private  means,  and  cherished 
and  sustained  by  your  patriotic  American  brethren 
—  if  you  see  around  you  all  these  things,  let  me 
conjure  you,  my  coloured  friends,  to  examine  well 
your  true  relations  to  the  sordid  spirit  of  power 
which  refuses  to  render  you  justice  !  Deceive  your- 
selves no  longer  w^ith  the  hope  that  the  little  drib- 
bling rill  of  Abolition  will  one  day  empty  the  ocean 
of  your  wrongs  !  When  you  have  learned  your 
true  position  in  this  land,  then  let  Reason  point  you 
to  your  duty.  If  she  should  teach  you  that  the 
grapes  growing  upon  the  vines  of  "  humanity  and 
equal  rights,"  which  are  assiduously  cultivated  for 
your  use  by  the  Abolitionists,  do  not  grow^  too  high 
for  you  to  reach  them,  and  that  they  will  not  be 
sour  when  grasped,  surely  your  nativity,  and  the 
graves  of  your   kindred  and    friends  will  plead  in 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  185 

natural  and  strong  language  that  you  should  stay 
here  and  eat  them.  But  if  Reason  should  tell  you 
that  the  storms  of  agitation  by  which  these  vines 
are  nourished,  will  probably  prevent  the  fruit  from 
ripening,  and  thus  wreck  all  your  hopes  at  last,  you 
will  have  less  sagacity  than  the  fox  in  the  fable,  if 
you  do  not  pronounce  these  grapes  sour  !  Again ;  if 
Reason  should  point  out  your  duty  to  Africa,  by 
showing  that  such  grapes,  even  if  won,  would  be 
but  a  small  compensation  for  the  horrors  and  con- 
sternation of  the  African  slave-hunt ;  for  the  suffo- 
cation and  agonizing  death  of  your  brethren  in  the 
slave  ships;  for  the  bones  of  your  race  left  bleaching 
on  the  bottom  of  the  ocean  in  every  channel,  from 
Africa  to  Christian  lands ;  for  the  spirit  bruised,  the 
heart  broken  through  sufferings  such  as  these,  and 
expatriation  into  unmitigated  slavery  ;  for  the  sepa- 
ration of  man  and  wife,  mother  and  child  —  if 
Reason  and  Religion  should  unite  their  voices  to 
remind  you  that,  even  here,  during  your  sojourn  in 
the  w^ilderness  of  woes  and  the  dungeons  of  despair, 
you  have  been  entrusted  with  the  keys  that  shall 
unlock  the  doors,  and  open  the  windows  of  the 
houses  of  your  fathers,  that  the  winds  of  Heaven 
may  sweep  away  the  foul  air  of  superstition  and  the 
very  memory  of  oppression ;  that  yow  are  the 
appointed   missionaries    to    carry    there    American 


186  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

freedom,  and  light  up  the  chambers  with  the  burn- 
ing and  never-fading  lights  of  Christianity ;  that,  to 
fit  you  for  this  task,  you  have  been  permitted  to 
endure  these  accumulated  miseries,  and  that,  in 
fulfilling  it,  you  will  reap  full  compensation  for 
them  all  —  surely  you  will  no  longer  "  lust  after  the 
flesh-pots  of  Egypt,"  but  will  steadfastly  pursue  the 
line  of  duty  dictated  by  both  natural  and  Divine 
revelation !  You  will  surely  regard  as  futile,  the 
claims  of  "  humanity  and  equal  rights,"  as  made 
applicable  to  your  case  by  the  Abolitionists  in  this 
country,  and  will  join  with  me  in  entreating  for 
a  wider  humanity,  acting  upon  a  broad  national 
scale,  and  calculated  to  promote  your  exodus;  be- 
lieving, with  me,  that  any  form  of  humanity  that 
does  not  embrace  your  fatherland  within  its  mantle, 
can  only  excite  a  useless  pity  for  your  oppressed 
condition  —  barren  of  all  grand  and  permanent 
result ! 

But  now  you  may  begin  to  fear  that  the  national 
humanity  I  claim  for  you  will  not  be  granted ;  that 
Congress  will  not  aid  in  the  initiatory  steps  of  the 
scheme  I  propose ;  and  that  the  people  will  never 
think  it  worth  while  to  move  in  the  matter,  because 
they  no  longer  seem  to  have  the  same  notions  about 
public  affairs,  their  own  rights,  the  future  interests, 
moral  dignity  and  the  glory  of  the  country,  that  were 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  187 

entertained  before  the  Revolutionary  War,  and 
even  after  that  'period,  up  to  the  time  of  the  election 
of  Gen.  Jackson.  Well,  I  cannot  say  that  your 
fears  are  without  reason,  when  we  see  men  hurr}^- 
ing  out  of  one  speculation  into  another ;  the  delibe- 
rations of  Congress  seemingly  having  no  other  end 
than  to  multiply  private  operations  in  filibuster-born 
state  stocks,  private  gifts  of  land  for  railroads,  and 
free  gifts  of  farms  to  everybody  in  the  world  that 
chooses  to  take  them  ! 

But  you  will  say,  "  Perhaps  our  prospects  here 
are  not  so  bad  as  you  think.  We  recollect  that,  a 
few  years  ago,  the  Abolitionists  got  some  men  to 
join  them  whom  they  called  *  Freesoilers  ;'  and  we 
think  it  was  at  Buffalo  that  they  got  up  a  thing 
they  called  a  Platform ;  and  directly  we  were  told 
that  we  were  to  have  free  democracy,  freedom  of 
speech,  and  free  soil ;  and  the  houseless  poor  would 
be  made  rich ;  and  all  this  was  done,  we  were  told, 
for  our  benefit  more  than  that  of  the  white  man. 
Yet  we  must  confess  we  are  no  better  off  than  we 
were  before,  notwithstanding  Mr.  Van  Buren  took 
the  lead  in  our  behalf.  And  when  you  tell  us  that 
the  recommendation  of  Mr.  Van  Buren  to  graduate 
the  price  of  the  public  lands,  and  sell  that  which 
had  been  lying  in  the  market  for  fifteen  years  dog 
cheap,  was  only  intended  to  lay  the  foundation  of  a 


188  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

great  speculation  in  the  land  lying  six  and  seven 
miles,  and  so  on,  from  the  canals,  we  suppose  you 
mean  to  say  that  the  knowing  ones  -would  have 
hought  it  for  twenty-five  cents  an  acre,  and  sold  it 
to  the  poor  settler  for  five  and  ten  dollars  per  acre  !" 

Yes ;  that  is  what  I  mean  to  say. 

"  Well  then,"  you  will  reply,  "  since  toe  are  not 
to  have  any  free  gifts  of  land,  we  begin  to  think 
our  masters  intend  to  keep  the  land,  and  us  too,  for 
the  grandest  speculation  ever  yet  based  upon  our 
rights  and  the  rights  of  the  white  poor  man !" 

With  your  doubts  and  your  fears,  and  your  ques- 
tions about  political  agitations  that  never  have  done, 
and  never  will  do,  any  good,  you  prevent  me  from 
stating  to  you  that,  if  Congress  and  the  people 
should  alike  refuse  to  carry  out  the  scheme  I  pro- 
pose for  your  exodus,  it  is  nevertheless  your  duty 
to  make  all  the  exertions  in  your  power  to  go  to 
Africa ! 

The  colonization  of  Africa  has  taken  root  in 
Liberia,  Sierra  Leone,  and  the  Maryland  Colony, 
where  political  freedom  such  as  you  desire  here  in 
vain,  is  really  to  be  found ;  a  freedom  that,  if  you 
will,  you  can  direct  for  the  good  of  your  whole 
people ;  so  that  your  destiny,  and  that  of  your 
country,  does  not  positively  depend  upon  the  scheme 
I  have  proposed  for  your   assistance.     I  urge  this 


TO    THE    BLACK     MAX.  189 

duty  upon  you,  and  upon  our  own  Government  alike, 
for  our  elevation  in  national  morality,  and  for  your 
rapid  advance  in  civilization.  You  may  rely  upon 
it  that  Liberty  and  Christianity  iv'dl  advance  in 
Africa,  as  certainly  as  out  of  the  acorn  grows  the 
oak,  and  the  sooner  you  go  to  nourish  this  tree  of 
liberty,  the  better  for  yourselves  and  country.  Your 
population  in  the  United  States  and  Canada  exceeds 
500,000.  Let  us  suppose  that  a  like  number  should 
transfer  themselves  and  their  interests  to  their 
fatherland.  We  should  then  behold  the  organiza- 
tion of  five  or  six  states,  all  raising  the  flag  of  Afri- 
can liberty,  upon  a  hlaclc  ground  with  lohite  strij^es, 
with  as  many  stars  as  states.  We  should  see  an 
active  commerce  existing  between  the  United  States 
and  your  country.  Only  think  of  this  for  a  mo- 
ment !  African  ships  moored  at  the  Philadelphia 
wharves,  owned  by  black  captains  and  merchants ; 
the  crews,  black  sailors ;  loaded  with  the  riches  of 
Africa,  brought  to  the  coast  by  railroads  from  the 
interior  and  mountain  regions — from  a  rich  soil  and 
a  salubrious  climate  !  Why  ;  you  would  all  of  you 
be  on  the  wharves,  inquiring  whether  the  steamboat 
which  left  but  six  weeks  before,  had  arrived  in 
Africa  with  your  friends  on  board  before  they  left. 
Y^ou  would  have  confirmation  of  all  the  good  reports 
of  African  progress  in  freedom  and  civilization.     Of 


190  OUR    "WHOLE    DUTY 

course  you  would  all  desire  to  go  to  Africa,  and  all 
of  you  who  could,  would  immediately  make  ready 
and  go.  Then,  if  slavery  should  still  exist  in  the 
Southern  states,  while  your  ships  and  steamboats, 
as  well  as  ours,  would  be  departing  from  New 
York  and  Philadelphia,  and  arriving  from  Africa 
almost  daily,  you  would  find  that  your  Abolition 
friends,  (who  aid  the  fugitive  to  escape  from  his 
master,  "  because  it  is  right  to  do  so,"  and  because 
"all  men  are  born  free  and  equal,"  and  reason  has 
nothing  to  do  with  "  the  higher  laws  which  give 
liberty  to  all,")  would  conduct  the  fugitives  on  board 
the  African  ships.  They  would  all  be  Colonization- 
ists  then.  Canadian  liberty  would  be  too  exacting, 
and  of  course  no  longer  appreciated  by  the  runaway 
himself. 

But  I  hear  you  say,  "  These  things  are  not  so 
now."  That  is  true ;  but  it  is  your  own  fault  that 
this  commerce  does  not  alrecnh:  exist  in  its  incipient 
stages.  If  you  that  are  intelligent  and  industrious, 
and  saving  of  your  earnings,  had  encouraged  industry 
and  economy  among  your  people,  and  if  all  of  you 
had  determined,  with  a  proper  patriotism,  to  carry 
your  wealth  and  your  knowledge  of  American  pro- 
gress and  American  liberty  to  Africa,  instead  of 
looking  only  for  the  little  aid  that  the  Colonization 
Society  can  afford  you,  or  suffering  you^^elves  to  be 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  191 

beguiled  by  hopes  that  can  never  be  realized,  (or, 
if  they  could  be,  would  still  fall  short  of  that  happy 
independence  you  can  secure  in  Africa,)  then  you 
would  not  have  to  say,  "  These  things  are  not  so 
now." 

But  let  it  be  once  understood  that  your  faces  are 
turned  homewards,  and  you  would  find  the  American 
merchant  ready  immediately  to  furnish  all  the 
means  necessary  for  your  emigration  and  commerce ; 
and,  in  one  year,  by  such  a  course  of  conduct,  you 
would  see  preparations  being  made  to  secure  the 
African  trade  for  the  mutual  benefit  of  your  country 
and  ours. 

But  you  are  told  that  the  climate  of  Africa  i^ 
sickly,  and  that  men  cannot  live  there.  Yet  you 
know  that  men  do  live  there !  This  idea  is  founded 
upon  an  inordinate  zeal  for  your  equality  of  rights 
here,  Avithout  hope  or  reason.  Surely  there  can  be 
no  difficulty  in  your  understanding  the  flummery  of 
this  argument,  after  having  resided  in  this  country 
for  two  hundred  years,  well  knowing  all  the  suffer- 
ings and  privations  of  your  ancestors,  and  all  the 
difficulties  you  yourselves  are  daily  obliged  to  over- 
come or  yield  to. 

Liberia  should  present  itself  to  your  mind  as  a 
land  of  promise,  to  which  you  can  return  in  the 
gladness  of  your  hearts;  where  you  could  enjoy  un- 


192  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

molested  liberty  with  a  hope  of  a  happy  and  free 
posterity.  Should  you  then  be  startled  by  the  fact 
that  death  levies  a  heavier  tax  upon  all  early  settlers 
of  young  colonies,  than  he  imposes  on  well-regulated 
and  long-established  communities ;  should  this,  I  say, 
be  permitted  to  cool  your  patriotism  and  3'our  desire 
for  independence  ?  If  so,  you  will  give  force  to  the 
chief  excuse  made  for  your  oppression  ;  namely,  that 
you  are  idle,  unambitious,  and  deficient  in  the  intel- 
lectual capacity  required  to  establish  self-government 
or  a  national  character !  I  believe  many  of  you  to 
be  idle  and  prodigal ;  but  for  this,  no  people  have  a 
more  reasonable  excuse.  The  first  lesson  taught 
you  in  the  process  of  being  lifted  from  heathen  degra- 
dation, through  a  bruised  spirit  and  a  broken  heart, 
has  caused  you  to  lean  with  entire  dependence  ujion 
your  master.  This  has  rendered  too  many  of  you 
idle  and  profligate ;  and  even  in  your  freest  condi- 
tion, the  want  of  proper  mu^lves  to  ambition  and 
exertion  has  subdued  or  depressed  the  power  of 
your  intellect.  Yet  there  are  many  of  you  who  are 
wealthy  and  highly  intelligent,  dignified  in  manners, 
moral  in  sentiment,  and  capable  of  appreciating, 
perhaps  with  a  fervour  peculiar  to  yourselves,  the 
saving  health  of  Christianitj'.  Under  such  influ- 
ences, a  true  patriotism  will  set  you  right  upon  this 
question  of  the    health    of  Africa.     This    question 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  193 

you  will   answer   best   by  comparing   it   with   the 

health   of  other   places.     Nor   could   you   possibly 

have  been  placed  upon   any  portion   of  the  globe 

where  you  could  so  well  form  a  proper  estimate  of 

the  difficulties  which  new  colonies  have  to  overcome 

as  in  this  country.     Our  early  history  teaches  you 

the  difficulties  which  Virginia,  Massachusetts,  and 

all  the  colonies  had  to  contend  with  in  the  beginning. 

In  all  of  them,  disease  and  death  bro]^e  down  the 

patriot  who  sought  freedom  from  an  oppression  flxr 

more  supportable  than  yours ;  and,  by  observation. 

you  fully  understand  our  progress.     The  colonies  of 

Virginia  and  Massachusetts  suffered  in  the  ravages 

of  disease,  and  the  resistance  to  settlement  by  the 

natives,  much  more  than  has  Liberia ;  nor  was  the 

early  advance  of  any  of  the  colonies  of  America  at 

all  comparable  with  the  progress  of  Liberia,  except 

in  the  instance  of  Pennsylvania  alone;  this  colony 

being  commenced  sixty  years  after  that  of  Virginia. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  it  required  sixty  years  to 

colonize  the  coast  between  Virginia  and  New  York. 

Even  in  Pennsylvania,  the  most  favoured  of  all  the 

colonies,  Indian    murders  upon  the   frontiers  were 

perpetrated  within  a  hundred  miles  of  Philadelphia. 

sixty  years  after  the   first   settlement  by  William 

Penn.     In  1755,  full  seventy-seven  3'ears  after  the 

landing  of  Penn.  and  while  the  whole  country  west 

N 


194  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

of  the  Susquehanna  river  was  yet  a  wilderness, 
Gren.  Braddock  was  defeated  by  the  Indians !  Be- 
hold the  activity,  life,  wealth,  and  prosperity  of  this 
colony  now ! 

The  progress  of  Liberia  during  the  first  thirty 
years  of  its  existence,  has  been  far  greater  than 
that  of  this  most  favoured  of  American  colonies ; 
nor  can  there  be  a  doubt,  that  if  you  will  give  Libe- 
ria the  consideration  which  she  demands  for  the 
promotion  of  your  own  best  interests  and  those  of 
your  fatherland,  that,  in  seventy  years  after  its  first 
settlement,  or  forty-five  years  from  the  present  time, 
you  will  have  railroads  extending  hundreds  of  miles 
into  the  interior,  and  penetrating  well-organized 
states,  inhabited  by  an  industrious,  free,  and  happy 
people;  while,  at  the  corresponding  period  in  the 
history  of  Pennsylvania,  no  other  than  a  horse-path 
led  from  one  settlement  to  another  in  the  interior, 
fifty  miles  from  the  capital !  Dilficulties  attended 
every  step  of  the  progress  of  these  colonies,  such  as 
will  not  be  met  with  in  Africa ;  and  in  addition  to 
all  the  advantages  you  will  find  to  aid  you  in  your 
rapid  advancement  there,  you  will  have  far  greater 
encouragement  from  this  country  than  England  ever 
afforded  to  our  ancestors.  But,  if  the  scheme  I 
have  proposed  for  the  work  of  colonization  should 
be  adopted,  this  plan  would  not  only  display,  in  the 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  195 

loftiest  manner,  the  moral  grandeur  and  dignity  of 
the  nation,  but  it  would  advance  you  in  civilization 
with  such  a  startling  rapidity,  that  the  settlement 
of  Liberia  would  commence  a  new  era  in  the  history 
of  nations.  No  nation  upon  earth,  however  power- 
ful, would  then  be  permitted  to  plant  a  colony  upon 
the  soil  of  Africa  on  the  principle  of  colonial  vassal- 
age to  herself.  Nothing  short  of  a  free  state  would 
be  allowed,  after  you  had  established  even  four  free 
states  upon  the  American  model. 

The  British  have  sent  ex]3editions  up  the  im- 
portant African  rivers  in  search  of  cotton  fields. 
They  have  found  a  salubrious  climate  and  fertile 
lands;  and  it  is  said  that  they  are  making  prepara- 
tions to  navigate  those  rivers,  and  found  establish- 
ments ;  especially  on  the  Cliadda,  a  tributary  of  the 
Niger.  This  fact  alone  may  operate  against  your 
perfect  political  freedom  in  your  own  fiitherland, 
unless  you  act  with  promptitude,  and  are  backed  by 
the  United  States  in  some  great  national  scheme. 
This  seems  necessary  to  save  you  another  great 
revolution,  like  to  ours,  at  some  future  day.  No 
doubt  you,  too,  would  even  then  be  enabled  to  glory 
in  your  own  "  Fourth  of  July,"  and  in  your  own 
"  Twentj^-second  of  Fe.bruary :"  yet  revolutions 
cost  blood ;  and  if  you  delay  your  duties,  that  blood 
will  be  chargeable  to  you.     But  in  the  low  state  of 


196  OUR     WHOLE     DUTY 

public  morals  in  this  boasted  country  of  ours,  you 
must  arouse  yourselves,  and,  by  your  own  efibrts. 
secure  your  own  nationality.     To  persuade  you  to 
depend  upon  the  aid  I  ask  for  you,  would  be  doing 
you  injustice;  especially  when  500,000  of  you  are 
in  a  condition  not  to  be  restrained  from  going  to 
Africa  as  fast  as  you  can  make  the  necessary  pre- 
paration.    Recollect,  for   your   encourgement,  that 
the  children  of  Israel  were  but  400,000  in  numbers, 
when  their  exodus  from  Egypt  to  the  promised  land 
commenced,    and   that   they  yet   remained   in  the 
wilderness  for  forty  years,  before  even  their  great 
standard-bearer  was  permitted  to  look  in   upon   it 
from  Mount  Pisgah,  and  even  Ite  had  not  the  privilege 
of  entering  it !     But  in  all  this  time,  and  in  all  the 
days  of  Egyptian  bondage,  these  exiles  were  perfect- 
ing themselves,  through  wrongs  and  sufferings,  for 
the  performance  of  the  vast  national  duties  to  which 
they  were  appointed.    Will  you  then  remain  behind 
in   your  similar  duty  ?     Will  you  draw  no  lesson 
from  your  parallel  history  ?     Will  you  shut  3'our 
eyes  to  its  prophetic  teaching?     With  your  views 
turned  to  Africa,  you  will  feel  yourselves  ennobled  ; 
you  will  feel  that,  although  you  may  have  no  hopes 
of  ever  even   seeing  the  "  land  of  promise  "  your- 
selves, you  have  a  nation  to  contend  lor;  you  have 
a  Divine  mission  to  fulfil. 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  197 

The  limited  freedom  Canada  can  give  you,  and 
the  equal  rights  you  now  contend   for   here,  will 
appear  small  gifts  in  your  sight   when   patriotism 
shall   point   to   an   open  field  for  useful  labour  in 
Africa.     Then  will   you    become  more  industrious, 
more  frugal,  more  intelligent  and  enlightened  :  you 
will  study  our  own  history  more  closely,  and  your 
observation  of  all  you  can  see  in  our  progress  will 
be  made  applicable  to  the  progress  of  your  father- 
land.    When  your   little  boy  returns  from  school, 
you  will  lay  your  hand  upon  his  head ;  you  will  see 
in  him  a  future  member  of  Congress,  a  judge  of  a 
court,  a  Governor  of  a  state  in  Africa !    Such  hopes, 
not  merely  ideal,  will  make  you  better  men  here ; 
and  the  reaction  of  that  improvement   will   make 
you  more  respected,  even  before  you  leave  us.     You 
will  see  in  the  future  a  great  blessing  in  store  for 
your  children.     You  will  see  that,  for  the  benefit  of 
Africa,  no  drunkard,  idler,  or  convict  ought  to  be 
permitted  to  go  there.     This  last  consideration  will 
lead  to  a  more  proper  care  of  your  children,  who 
are  now  neglected  by  too  many  of  you,  because  you 
see  that  a  high  elevation  of  character  often  renders 
them  unhappy  here,  and  unfits  them  for  their  hum- 
ble duties.     But  when  you    discover   that   talents 
cannot   be   too  highly  cultivated   for  Africa,  then 


198  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

indeed  will  you  have  motives  to  actuate  your  con- 
duct, to  which  you  have  as  yet  been  strangers. 

I  have  stated  to  you  that,  when  you  shall  deter- 
mine upon  Africa  for  your  home,  no  longer  gazing 
at  the  basket  of  sour  grapes,  the  merchants  will 
keep  pace  with  all  your  requirements  in  your  transit. 
And  here  I  want  you  to  bear  in  mind  the  certainty 
that  African  progress  will  be  vastly  more  rapid  than 
was  that  of  the  American  colonies.  In  consequence 
of  the  improved  means  of  transit  now  at  your  com- 
mand, the  average  time  of  a  passage  to  Liberia,  by 
means  of  a  good  steamboat,  will  not  be  more  than 
twenty  days,  and  our  sailing  ships  will  perform  it  in 
a  much  shorter  time  than  was  required  in  olden 
days  to  perform  the  voyage  from  England  to 
America. 

You  cannot  all  be  off  at  once,  though  probably 
nearly  all  of  you  will  soon  have  a  desire  to  go;  and, 
as  the  Colonization  Society,  perhaps  fortunately, 
cannot  furnish  aid  to  all,  the  means  of  the  wealthy 
and  intelligent  will  naturally  enable  and  induce 
them  to  lead  the  way  in  the  elevation  of  their 
country  from  heathen  degradation  to  civilization. 
This  is  as  it  should  be ;  and,  the  way  once  clearly 
open,  the  demand  for  labour  in  the  progress  of  im- 
provement and  agriculture  will  smooth  the  path  for 
the  less  fortunate.     Wlien  you  figure  to  yourselves 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  199 

one  state  after  another,  adding  their  stars  to  the 
national  stripes,  united  after  the  example  of  the 
United  States,  what  power  can  restrain  you,  my 
wealthy  and  intelligent  coloured  friends,  from  going 
to  Africa,  and  commencing  your  noble  mission  ? 
Oh,  how  oppressive  and  galling  will  the  chains  you 
now  wear  appear  to  the  awakened  aspirant  for  per- 
fect liberty !  But  how  distant  will  be  the  accom- 
plishment of  so  much  good,  if  you  who  are  capable 
of  regenerating  your  fatherland,  suffer  the  glory  of 
Africa  to  rise  only  through  the  scanty  means  of  the 
Colonization  Society  —  means  which,  in  too  many 
instances,  it  is  obliged  to  bestow  upon  the  recently 
emancipated  slave,  whose  knowledge  of  American 
freedom  and  civilization  is,  by  necessity,  so  far  below 
that  which  you  possess ! 

Can  you  be  idle  in  so  great  a  salvation  for  your 
people?  Dare  you,  in  conscience,  continue  to 
struggle  for  a  freedom  here,  which,  if  attained  by 
all  your  race,  would  be  so  far  below  the  indepen- 
dence which  Africa  holds  out  to  you,  whilst  the 
poor  and  lowly  patriot  of  your  tribe  is  reaping  the 
honour  and  the  glory  of  building  up  a  nationality 
for  you,  which  properly  belongs  to  yourselves  ? 

How  slow  was  American  colonization  for  two 
hundred  years;  say  from  1608  to  1808,  when  Ameri- 
can hberty  first  asserted  the  right  to  protect    the 


200  OUR     WHOLE     DUTY 

oppressed  of  Europe  in  all  cases  where  American 
citizenship  was  claimed !  How  rapid  has  been  the 
flow  of  immigration,  seeking  protection  under  this 
flag,  since  that  time.  The  honour,  fame,  and  world- 
acknowledged  glory  won  by  the  British  convict,  and 
the  poor  woman  sold  to  the  man  who  refused  to 
abandon  the  colony  of  Virginia  under  the  severest 
trials,  are  only  eclipsed  by  the  high  esteem  and 
veneration  in  which  we  hold  the  stern  bearing  for 
conscience'  sake  of  the  noble  patriots  who  landed 
upon  Plymouth  rock !  Then,  with  the  assurance 
that,  compared  with  the  early  colonists  of  America, 
you  will  have  little  to  sufier,  and  that  your  fame,  Im- 
nour,  and  glory  will  be  no  less  than  theirs — because 
you  too  seek  j^our  own  freedom  and  the  salvation  of 
your  native  land  —  every  other  consideration  ought 
to  be  made  subservient  to  a  stern  duty  to  your 
country.  Examine  into  this  duty  closely;  and  if 
you  find,  as  I  think  you  will,  that  it  points  to  your 
best  interests  in  Africa,  and  that  you  can  secure 
freedom  for  your  enslaved  race,  better,  and  in  a 
shorter  time,  by  transferring  your  means  and  energy 
to  that  continent,  than  you  can  by  any  power  you 
possess  or  can  acquire  here,  you  will  of  course  pursue 
the  line  of  conduct  which  it  dictates. 

But  you   have  other  than  mere  individual  duties 
to  perform  ;  others  than  those  which  appertain  to  the 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  201 

redemption  of  Africa :  the  securing  of  your  own 
citizenship  there,  preparing  the  way  for  the  poor 
man,  and  the  redemption  of  your  race.  You  must 
not  lose  sight  of  your  brother  still  held  in  slavery 
here !  You  ought  fully  to  understand  that  the 
sooner  you  make  yourselves  strong  as  a  nation,  the 
sooner  will  the  desire  for  extensive  or  complete 
emancipation. here  be  brought  about.  Whenever 
Africa  becomes  strong  enough  to  revive  her  dormant 
claim  to  the  fealty  of  her  captive  compatriots,  she 
will  demand  their  freedom ;  and  the  law  of  nations 
will  bear  out  the  demand. 

It  will  then  endanger  the  slave-holder  in  the 
United  States,  as  much  as  in  the  West  India 
Islands,  to  refuse  to  emancipate  your  brethren.  I 
have  given  it  as  my  opinion,  that,  if  slavery  remains 
unchecked  in  the  United  States,  the  time  will  come, 
and  that  soon,  when,  measured  by  the  clock  that 
records  the  cj^cles  of  nations  —  say  in  one  hundred 
years  —  when  more  than  20,000,000  of  your  race 
will  be  found,  chiefly  in  the  Southern  states  and 
in  Mexico.  I  also  suppose  that,  at  the  end  of  this 
short  period,  the  employment  of  the  only  means  in 
your  power,  (that  is,  the  power  you  500,000  freemen 
in  the  United  States  possess  to  control  the  destinies 
cf  your  fatherland,)  will  cause  the  roar  of  African 
cannon  to  resound  upon  the  shores  of  the    Island 


202  OUR    -WHOLE     DUTY 

of  Cuba,  demanding  the  restitution  of  the  slave  to 
his  original  fealty ;  and  that,  then,  the  great  day  of 
trial  for  the  South  will  have  arrived.  But,  before 
we  get  through  with  this  talk,  (and  I  am  right  glad 
to  have  a  little  talk  with  you,)  I  will  show  you  that, 
if  you  are  slothful,  unpatriotic,  and  apathetic  to  the 
interests  of  your  country,  your  fatherland  will  pre- 
sent another  picture.  Before  I  ask  you,  however, 
to  look  upon  the  dark  side  of  this  picture,  I  must 
still  suppose  that  you  are  particularly  interested  by 
the  bright  side  of  the  prospect  exhibited  by  African 
freedom,  and  the  elevation  of  your  race ;  for  I  can- 
not flatter  myself  that  all  of  you  who  are  wealthy 
and  intelligent,  and  have,  or  soon  might  have,  the 
confidence  of  your  people,  are  here  and  now  engaged 
in  encouraging  them  to  foster  an  African  nation ality, 
by  inducing  them  to  give  up  all  idea  of  entering 
into  the  affairs  of  our  Government,  upon  equal  terms 
with  us.  I  must  endeavour  still  more  closely  to 
show  how  utterly  impossible  it  would  be  for  you,  or 
for  those  you  are  endeavouring  to  elihghten,  to 
secure  this  equality  in  anything  beyond  the  mere 
power  of  voting.  I  need  only  point  to  the  vast 
number  of  foreigners  amongst  us,  who  are  courted 
for  their  votes.  Yet,  whenever  one  of  these  foreigners 
has  the  audacity  to  ask  for  office,  how  his  professed 
friends  vote  directly  against  him !     When  I  see  tliat 


TO    THE     BLACK     MAN.  203 

the  very  considerable  amount  of  wealth  and  intelli- 
gence which  you  possess  is  held  back  from  giving 
Africa  that  aid  of  which  she  stands  in  so  much  need, 
while  you  publicly  contend  for  equal  rights  here, 
upon  the  plea  of  nativity,  and  are  using  every  effort 
to  have  your  allegiance  transferred  from  your  own 
country  to  this,  I  cannot  readily  perceive  by  what 
infatuation  you  are  guided.  If  you  had  observed, 
as  you  might  and  should  have  done,  the  dominant 
character  of  the  Anglo-Saxon,  you  would  have  seen 
how  impossible  it  is  that  any  effort  you  can  make  to 
secure  for  yourselves  an  equality  of  political  rights, 
should  prove  of  any  avail. 

History  teaches  that,  however  great  the  power  of 
a  nation  may  be,  it  may  decline,  grow  powerless  in 
its  own  defence,  and  pass  away  —  that  a  hardy  and 
oppressed  people  may  become  the  rulers  of  their 
enervated  masters.  Your  race  in  this  country  is  four 
millions  strong;  and,  in  a  little  while,  you  will 
number  many  millions  more.  While  your  exertions 
as  labourers  enervate  your  masters,  and  render  them 
perfectly  dependent  upon  you,  they  are  divided 
upon  all  public  matters,  even  to  the  preservation  of 
the  Union  !  You  argue  hence  that,  as  you  will  be  all 
the  while  growing  stronger,  one  common  object  may 
yet  unite  you  in  sentiment;  so  that  emancipation 
and  enfranchisement  may  one  day  secure  office  to 


204  OUR     TV  II  OLE    DUTY 

you,  as  soon  as  you  can  gain  majorities  in  townsliips 
or  counties.  I  tell  you,  that  if  you  reason  in  this 
\vay,  you  stand  on  the  brink  of  a  precipice  !  If  you 
liad  the  power,  in  a  single  Congressional  district,  to 
elect  a  man  of  your  colour  to  Congress,  and  were  to 
enforce  your  power,  it  would  have  the  effect  of  dis- 
solving the  Union ;  therefore,  the  very  idea  that  you 
could,  by  a  vote,  bring  mischief  to  bear  upon  us, 
must  forever  operate  as  a  bar  to  your  enfranchise- 
ment. It  is  asking  too  much  of  a  people  to  put  their 
Government  in  jeopardy.  If  such  are  your  motives 
for  contending  for  the  high  privilege  of  voting,  I 
must  tell  you,  in  plain  dealing,  that  your  hopes  will 
never  be  realized.  Do  you  not  at  this  moment  really 
believe  that,  if  you  had  a  vote,  and  were  to  present 
one  of  your  own  colour  for  office,  in  preference  to  a 
white  Abolitionist,  your  best  friends  would  turn 
against  you,  and  that,  rather  than  you  should  be 
elected,  they  would  vote  for  a  slave-holder  ?  I  do  ! 
I  will  tell  you  why  I  do !  I  have  seen  men  who 
court  the  foreign  vote,  yet  who,  when  a  foreigner 
is  presented  for  office,  vote  rather  for  a  political 
native  American  than  permit  the  election  of  their 
I'ind,  confiding  friends !  You  may  rest  assured  that 
if,  by  any  combination  of  the  foreign  vote  in  this 
country,  twenty  purely  democratic  candidates  for 
Congress  should  be  defeated  in  any  one  year,  even 


TO    THE     BLACK     MAN.  205 

if  it  ^vere  possible  that  this  event  should  cause  no 
wide-spread  sensation  throughout  the  country,  it 
Avould  at  least  add  twenty  to  the  American  party. 
But  It  luouhl  cause  such  a  sensation  !  It  would  have 
the  effect  at  once  of  changing  the  naturalization 
laws ! 

Democracy  wants  voters ;  it  does  not  want  men 
that  want  office,  nor  inquirers  into  its  policy,  beyond 
what  seemingly  relates  to  broad  principles  and  the 
general  good  of  the  country.  A  closer  scrutiny  into 
lite  public  spoils  is  often  rewarded  by  an  ejectment 
from  the  party.  Free  democracy  also  w-ants  voters, 
upon  the  same  principle  no  doubt;  and  to  secure 
your  vote,  it  has  raved  and  still  raves  about  free 
soil.  But  you  see  that  the  slave  democracy  has 
fairly  taken  the  start  of  the  free  democracj^,  and  is 
about  giving  this  free  soil  to  its  own  voters  ;  so  that, 
really,  if  you  had  a  vote,  you  would  have  to  give  it 
for  nothing.  For  this  slave  democracy  has  all  the 
public  lands,  the  revenues  of  the  country,  and  the 
direction  of  nearly  all  the  state  improvements  in 
railroads  and  canals  under  its  own  control ;  and  this 
whole  power  is  brought  to  bear  in  the  way  best  cal- 
culated to  secure  office  and  2)rivate  speculation.  Thi> 
slave  democracy  will  annex  a  state,  and  enact  the 
assumption,  by  the  nation,  of  a  state  dcljt,  to  enrich 
the  politician.     It  will  make  a  war  that  sliall  cost 


206  OUR    WUOLE    DUTY 

millions  of  dollars,  for  no  better  apparent  purpose. 
Ten  or  twenty  millions  of  dollars  in  payment  of 
treaty  stipulations  are  nothing,  provided  there  are 
private  claims  enough  to  warrant  the  transaction 
and  absorb  the  money.  All  these  things  modern 
democracy  does,  without  consulting  the  people  at 
all ;  the  discussion  by  the  people  of  the  subjects  that 
engross  its  attention,  or  their  advice  upon  such  ques- 
tions, is  not  asked  for  or  desired — the  thing  is  done, 
and  there  is  an  end  of  all  argument  about  it. 

Modern  democracy  is  so  jealous  of  its  controlling 
power,  that,  in  all  measures  of  national  import  which 
do  not  affect  the  pocket  of  the  politician  personally, 
—  such  as  a  bank  or  a  tariff —  if  these  measures 
should  happen  to  favour  a  conservative  policy  in  the 
most  remote  degree,  or  if  the  Whig  party  should 
claim  the  credit  of  originating  them,  the  axe  is  laid 
to  their  root  at  once,  however  necessary  to  the 
public  welfare  they  may  be,  although  the  suspension 
of  specie  payments,  and  the  breaking  down  of  the 
manufacturing  interests  of  the  country  ^lould  stare 
us  in  the  face. 

Doubtless  you  know  more  of  the  liberality  of  your 
Abolition  friends  than  I  do,  (yet  I  do  know  some 
that  will  put  their  hands  into  their  pockets  to  free 
an  individual  or  a  family  of  slaves,)  and  you  can 
judge  best  whether,  if  thej'  had  the  power  to  serve 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  207 

you  as  a  race,  they  would  raise  you  upon  a  political 
equality  with  themselves  or  not. 

"  Why  do  you  talk  to  us  about  the  evil  practices 
of  your  public  men,  and  the  want  of  public  morals  ?" 
asks  some  wealthy  man  of  colour.  "  Surely  we  do 
not  want  to  interfere  any  further  than  this  :  —  as 
tax-payers  and  born  free,  we  conceive  that  we  have 
a  right  to  a  vote.  Taxation  and  representation 
should  go  together,  and  we  only  ask  a  vote ;  but  we 
know  our  places,  and  we  would  not  interfere  with 
politics,  except  to  vote.'' 

Thus  you  would  carr?/  t7ie  hod  upon  election  days, 
as  your  poorer  brethren  now  do  in  building  our 
houses.  The  mere  privilege  of  voting  is  not  worth 
contending  for,  without  the  power  of  voting  for 
whom  you  please ;  and  it  must  be  obvious  to  you 
that,  being  men,  and  disposed  even  now  to  grasp  at 
the  power  by  which  the  destiny  of  the  country  is 
controlled  for  good  or  evil,  the  very  moment  you 
could  control  it  for  your  own  benefit,  you  would  do 
so,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others !  And  I  sincerely 
believe  that  any  attempt  to  obtain  a  controlling 
^ower  by  means  of  any  combined  effort  of  yours, 
even  in  a  township  or  city  ward,  would  bring  down 
the  most  serious  harm  upon  yourselves.  To  con- 
vince you  of  this,  and  in  order  to  prove  to  you 
how   little   your   claims  will   be   regarded,  I  have 


20S  OUR    WnOLE    DUTY 

endeavoured  to  show  you  how  concentratedly  selfish 
the  pohtician  of  the  present  day  is;  and  that  he 
looks  only  to  the  promotion  of  his  own  ends.  In 
my  plan  for  the  elevation  of  your  race,  by  facilita- 
ting your  return  to  your  own  country,  I  ask  from 
him  the  means  by  which  he  hopes  to  purchase 
voters  at  the  public  expense.  You  cannot  be  sur- 
prised, then,  to  hear  me  acknowledge  my  belief  that 
the  motives  by  which  the  modern  politician  is 
actuated  will  lead  him  to  refuse  to  grant,  at  the 
present  time,  the  request  I  make  in  your  behalf.  I 
think,  also,  that  some  time  will  be  required  for  tlte 
people^  in  their  present  state  of  apathy  with  regard 
to  the  public  lands,  to  find  out  how  much  this  trust 
is  abused  by  Congress.  It  will  be  some  time,  before 
they  can  be  induced  to  inquire  into,  and  exert  their 
power  in  removing  the  Public  Domain  from  the 
custody  of  politicians,  and  giving  a  proper  direction 
to  its  management.'''     I  am  anxious,  too,  that  you 

*  The  schetue  of  the  Pacific  Kailroad  is  likely  to  favour  the  plans 
in  relation  to  the  Public  Domain  which  are  adverted  to  in  this 
■work,  because  the  people  will  find  that  the  public  lands  ofl^cr  the 
only  legitimate  means  for  the  construction  of  this  road ;  and,  in 
order  to  insure  the  completion  of  this  great  national  work,  and  due 
economy  in  the  vast  expenditures  demanded  by  it  in  a  wilderness 
far  removed  from  regular  settlements,  it  will  be  necessary  that  a 
proper  supervision  should  be  exercised  in  relation  to  it.  Congress 
cannot  secure  economy,  even  in  the  ordinary  affairs  of  the  Govero- 
n)ent ;  and  the  proposed  Board  of  the  Public  Domain  will  doubtless 
be  resarded  as  a  far  safer  ngcnt  for  the  work. 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  209 

sliould  take  the  securing  of  your  freedom  and  citizen- 
ship into  your  own  hands,  and  in  the  right  way. 
This  is  the  only  excuse  I  have  for  speaking  to  you 
of  our  headlong  course,  so  that  you  should  not  be 
too  much  disappointed  if  you  should  receive  no  such 
aid  as  I  have  demanded  for  you.  Besides;  I  want 
to  convince  you  that,  if  the  people  would  rather  see 
the  riches  of  the  country  squandered  in  corrupt  or 
injurious  speculation,  than  that  they  should  aid  you, 
as  captives,  in  restoring  you  to  your  natural  alle- 
giance, small  indeed  must  be  the  chance  of  your 
securing  rights  and  privileges  liere,  in  the  midst  of 
those  who  deny  you  even  that  justice  by  which  they 
would  be  able  really  to  enrich  and  elevate  them- 
selves, if  selfishness  had  not  so  blinded  them  to  their 
own  interests  that  they  cannot  perceive  the  most 
obvious  truths! 

Have  you  not  been  repeatedly  told  by  the  Plia- 
raohs  who  are  not  willing  to  let  you  go  to  your 
fatherland,  that  this  country  is  large  enough  to  hold 
dXl  o^  you  and  us ',  that  there  are  millions  of  acres 
of  land  to  clear  up,  and  houses  to  build,  and  all 
you  can  desire  for  happiness  here ;  that  it  is  morally 
right  that  you  should  have  all  the  privileges  you 
contend  fur ;  that  Africa  is  no  longer  your  land  ? 
And  have  you  not  found,  when  thus  reconciled  to 
your  hopeless  situation,  that  the  hardest  work  in 
o 


210  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

clearing  the  farm  and  building  the  house  was  allotted 
to  your  share  ?  Has  it  never  occurred  to  you  that 
the  vast  amount  of  labour  you  perform  here,  if  pro- 
perly directed  and  aided  by  the  wealth  you  possess, 
would  make  Africa  flourish  as  a  civilized  nation  ? 
Nor  is  this  all.  Has  it  never  occurred  to  you  that 
you  are  only  tolerated  or  appreciated  here  for  the 
labour  you  can  perform  ?  Do  you  not  hear  daily, 
that  Europe,  at  a  public  charge,  empties  her  jails 
and  poor  houses  of  her  paupers  and  convicts,  and 
sends  them  to  this  country  to  rid  herself  of  a  useless 
portion  of  her  population  ?  Is  this  right  ?  Certainly 
not !  Yet  the  nation  that  does  this,  claims  to  take 
the  lead  in  emancipating  the  African  slave  !  Can 
you  trust  such  sympathy?  And  your  Abolition 
friends  claim  for  you  privileges  equal  with  those  of 
the  whites,  because  it  is  rigid  ! 

Do  not  trust  to  the  simple  declaration  of  right, 
with  a  hope  that  it  will  be  gratuitously  enforced, 
when  you  see  our  mother  country  expatriating  the 
pauper,  and  using  our  jails  for  her  convicts  !  Like 
the  parent,  you  will  find  the  child.  Can  you  not 
perceive  that,  in  an  overdense  population,  you  would 
be  the  first  to  be  shipped  to  Africa,  poor  and  naked, 
if  Africa  would  receive  you  ? 

I  tell  you  candidly,  that  if  you  expect  national 
generosity   where  justice  is  withheld,  you  will  be 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  211 

disappointed.     You  can  estimate  private  generosity, 
and  no  doubt  know  how  to  appreciate  it.      I  know 
you  have  had  some  lamentable  experience,  especially 
in  some  of  our  cities.     This  ought  to  enable  you  to 
decide  at  once  against  the  argument  that  we  have 
labour  enough,  and  a  world  large  enough,  for  our- 
selves and  you.     Are  you  not  now  made  to  suffer 
for  want  of  employment,  where  you  come  in  contact 
with  a  white  man   (it  may  be  the   newly-arrived 
immigrant)  for  a  day's  work  ?     Have  you  not  been 
scattered  from  your  most  thickly  inhabited  quarters 
in  a  city,  to  a  distance  beyond  the  suburbs,  when 
you  presumed  to  do  the  work  that  the  white  man 
claimed  as  his  right  ?     Do  you  think  that  any  rail- 
road  contractor,  in    any  free    state   in  the  Union, 
would  dare  to  employ  one  thousand  of  you  to  do  the 
work  upon  a  railroad  ?     Would  any  one  hundred  of 
you  be  enabled  to  unite  to  build  the  houses  for  which 
you  are  allowed   to  carry  the  brick  in  the  hod,  in 
any  of  our  free  cities?     Remember  the  hall   that 
was  built  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  you  upon  a 
social  equality  with  us,  and  enabling  you  publicly 
to  discuss  your  political  rights.     Has  it  not  been 
burned  to  the  ground?     You  answer  "Yes"  to  all 
this.     But  is  it  right  ? 

I  tell  you  that  you  have  wrongs  heaped   upon 
your  heads  daily.     And  daily  the  same  question  is 


212  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

reiterated,  ''  Is  it  right  ?"  without  bringing  you  any 
relief,  or  advancing  you  one  step  in  what  you  claim 
as  right. 

If  I  were  not  afraid  of  making  my  book  too  large, 
I  would  tell  you  all  I  know  about  how  shabbily  you 
are  treated  in  regard  to  all  your  personal  rights, 
even  by  the  AboUtionist.  But,  as  your  country  is  a 
vast  country,  and  as  it  is  now  in  your  power,  with 
the  knowledge  you  have  gained  by  absorption  in 
your  journey  through  the  wilderness,  to  become  a 
mighty  nation  on  the  earth,  it  is  no  more  than  right 
that  I  have  made-  a  statement  of  facts  relating 
to  you  and  us,  in  order  to  convince  you  that  all 
who  persuade  you  not  to  go  to  Africa  are  wrong, 
and  that  going  to  Africa  is  going  to  freedDm. 

I  recollect  that  the  Hon.  T.  H.  Benton,  in  one  of 
his  speeches  upon  the  Pacific  Railroad,  said  that, 
somewhere  up  the  Rocky  Mountains,  a  guide-board 
would  be  placed,  pointing  west,  but  declaring  that 
such  was  the  shortest  way  to  the  east.  This  caused 
surprise  in  all  who  did  not  understand  that  the  globe 
is  round.  The  only  difficulty  between  the  Aboli- 
tionist and  myself  is,  that  he  seems  to  think  the 
earth  a  plain,  as  it  was  supposed  to  be  in  ancient 
times,  when  men  spoke  of  the  "  four  corners  of  the 
earth."  In  looking  over  the  surface  of  this  plain, 
the  Abolitionist  does  not  see  into  Africa  at  all !     He 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  213 

merely  tells  you  that  he  catches  a  glimpse  of  the 
coast  of  the  promontory  of  that  continent,  which 
juts  out  towards  America,  and  that  it  is  terrible 
there  to  behold  the  ravages  of  death  ;  that  the  soil 
of  much  of  the  coast  is  sterile;  that  the  few  of 
your  own  people  there  are  tyrants ;  and  that  your 
native  brethren  are  poor  and  naked.  Because  of  all 
these  things,  he  tells  you  that  you  ought  not  to  go 
to  Liberia.  But  when  I  say  to  you  that  I  conceive 
it  to  be  one  of  the  highest  duties  you  owe  yourselves 
to  go  and  comfort  your  poor  distressed  brethren, 
many,  if  not  all  of  you,  will  think  with  me.  I 
know  many  of  you  who  have  a  strong  faith  in  that 
book  which  teaches  this  duty.  You  look  upon  the 
promises  of  that  book  with  a  faith  as  full  as  that 
which  cheered  a  majority  of  the  children  of  Israel  in 
their  journey  through  the  wilderness  —  the  faith 
which  taught  them  that  their  deliverance  would  be 
accomplished  in  the  proper  time,  by  the  Almighty 
God,  who  knows  all  things  best.  I  know  many  of 
you  who  are  full  in  faith,  and,  without  murmuring, 
are  patiently  awaiting  the  time  of  your  deliverance 
in  a  trustful  hope.  I  can  readily  conceive  how 
gladly  all  of  you  who  are  thus  confiding  would  gird 
your  loins  for  the  journey  to  Africa,  if  the  means  I 
propose  for  your  relief  should  be  granted.  How 
glorious  will  Africa  then  appear  to  your  view  !    How 


214  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

short  will  seem  the  hundred  years  I  propose  for  your 
gradual  return  to  the  home  of  your  fathers,  when  a 
definite  period  is  fixed  for  the  freedom  of  the  last 
captive  of  your  race,  instead  of  the  darkness  and 
hopeless  uncertainty  which  obscure  that  period  now ! 
The  want  of  fertility  of  soil  on  the  coast  of  Africa 
will  no  longer  be  objectionable.  You  will  soon  learn 
that  this  is  no  argument  against  the  fertility  of  the 
interior,  any  more  than  the  want  of  high  fertility  on 
the  Atlantic  coast  of  this  continent  is  an  argument 
against  the  fertility  of  the  rich  interior.  Nor  does 
the  sickness  of  the  sea-shore  of  Africa  furnish  any 
better  argument  in  proof  of  the  unhealthiness  of 
climate  in  the  interior,  than  the  sickness  at  Charles- 
ton and  New  Orleans  would  furnish  -against  the 
health  of  the  mountain  regions  and  upland  valleys 
of  this  noble  country.  All  such  arguments  will 
appear  false  in  the  nature  of  things,  and  will  no 
longer  stand  in  the  way  of  your  interests  and  your 
duties.  Fortunately  for  you,  the  elevation  of  cha- 
racter to  which  you  have  attained  whilst  here  (far, 
far  above  that  which  your  native  brethren  possess), 
places  your  natural,  just,  and  absolute  rights  in  your 
own  keeping,  the  moment  you  arrive  upoix  the  soil 
of  your  ancestry.  As  you  cannot  all  golat  one  time, 
thousands  of  you,  it  is  true,  can  never  hope  to  see 
the  Africa  of  your  choice ;  but  even  such  will  not 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  215 

be  the  less  elevated  by  the  noble  purpose  and  lofty 
duty  which  you  undertake,  or  less  useful  here,  in 
furthering  their  accomplishment. 

Let  it  be  once  understood  that  you  desire,  for 
your  race,  citizenship  in  Africa,  and  nowhere  else, 
and  those  who,  from  age  or  other  reasons,  have  no 
desire  to  leave  America,  will  find  aid  and  encourage- 
ment, here,  in  the  education  of  your  children,  and  in 
fitting  them  for  Africa.  And,  as  your  native 
country  becomes  opened  more  and  more  widely  from 
year  to  year,  your  exodus,  and  the  commerce  between 
your  nation  and  ours  will  as  steadily  increase ;  and 
just  in  the  proportion  of  the  growth  of  your  nation 
in  commercial  importance,  and,  consequently,  in 
wealth  and  power,  will  be  the  justice  rendered  to 
your  race  in  this  country.  National  justice  is 
rather  equivocal  where  there  is  no  power  to  resist 
oppression. 

To  secure,  as  soon  as  possible,  a  point  of  great- 
ness that  will  enable  you  to  enter  into  commercial 
treaties  with  the  great  nations  of  the  earth  (which 
would  put  you  in  a  position  to  demand  the  restitu- 
tion of  your  brethren),  it  appears  to  me  highly  de- 
sirable, as  a  first  step,  that  the  wealthy  amongst  you 
should  unite  in  sending  ten  or  twenty  of  your  most 
intelligent  and  enterprising  men  to  explore  the 
regions  of  the  Upper  Niger,  to  win  the  good  will 


21G  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

of  the  natives  there,  and,  hy  all  possible  and  fair 
means,  to  secure  the  territory  necessary  for  the 
organization  of  a  future  interior  state.  Let  them 
make  a  full  exploration  of  the  country  in  relation  to 
roads,  mountains  and  rivers,  and  report  all  matters 
of  interest  in  connection  therewith.  Such  a  step  once 
taken,  a  universal  interest  in  the  success  of  the  pro- 
ject would  immediately  spring  up.  A  free  state 
once  organized  upon  the  head  waters  of  the  River 
Niger,  African  civilization  and  African  power  would 
be  secured  beyond  a  doubt ;  new  pursuits  would  be 
created,  and  the  sources  of  labour  would  be  con- 
tinually enlarged ;  thus,  opening  the  country  for  a 
more  rapidly-increasing  immigration  in  each  succeed- 
ing year.  Nor  is  this  all.  The  immigration  of  each 
year  would  be  more  and  more  enlightened.  Your 
wants  in  Africa  would  require  men  of  intelligence 
and  knowledge  in  all  the  departments  of  the  arts 
and  sciences.  Here,  they  would  be  educated  by 
your  own  exertions ;  for  it  would  be  found  that  such 
as  would  remain  here,  either  from  choice  or  neces- 
sity, would,  each  in  his  proper  sphere  of  duty,  be 
efficient  in  many  ways  in  forwarding  the  interests 
of  his  country,  especially  in  the  proper  culture  of 
the  talents  of  his  children ;  and  in  this  matter  you 
would  be  encouraged  by  your  real  friends,  to  an  ex- 
tent vastly  beyond  all  present  calculations.     Nor  is 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  217 

even  this  all !  This  high  and  patriotic  object,  and 
your  exertions  in  promoting  it,  would  make  you 
virtually  African  citizens  at  once.  It  would  make 
you  better  men  and  better  citizens  than  any  citizenship 
you  could  acquire  here.  It  would  eventually  place 
your  nation  in  a  position  to  demand  that  the  African 
slave  shall  be  emancipated. 

You  now,  I  hope,  fully  understand  that  you  possess 
a  mighty  power  within  yourselves,  for  the  redemption 
of  your  fatherland  from  degradation ;  for  the  re- 
lease of  your  enslaved  brethren  upon  the  West  India 
Islands  and  in  the  United  States,  by  and  through 
African  nationality;  and  for  securing  your  own 
elevation,  freedom,  and  citizenship.  Patriotism 
dictates  that  you  should  make  every  exertion  in 
your  power  to  secure  the  national  blessings  Africa 
has  in  store  for  you. 

You  understand  fully,  too,  what  I  propose  in  the 
form  of  national  aid  for  your  elevation  as  a  people. 
Nor  have  I  any  doubt  that,  if  the  pervading  senti- 
ment of  our  whole  people  could  be  made  to  bear 
upon  the  subject  of  your  nationality,  then,  rather 
than  that  our  ample  lands  should  continue  to  be 
squandered  so  injudiciously,  if  not  iniquitously,  as 
they  now  are,  they  would  be  applied  to  the  purposes 
I  have  pointed  out,  and  that  full  justice  would  be 
meeted  out  to  you  at  last.    And  now,  in  naming  one 


218  OUR     WHOLE    DUTY 

hundred  years  as  necessary  for  the  complete  accom- 
plishment of  your  exodus,  notwithstanding  the  vast 
resources  which  we  might  apply  to  the  purpose  if 
we  saw  fit,  I  have  been  guided  rather  by  your  inte- 
rests than  by  our  necessities;  because  you  would 
acquire  in  civilization  and  the  arts,  during  one 
hundred  years,  far  more  from  our  teachings  than 
you  could  gain  by  a  too  rapid  departure  from  our 
shores. 

Yet,  after  all  that  has  been  said  of  the  glory  you 
would  acquire  in  assuming  a  national  character,  and 
redeeming  your  own  land  from  depravity,  the  fact 
that  at  least  three  generations  must  pass  away 
before  a  striking  and  lasting  effect  can  be  produced 
upon  all  your  native  brethren  who  would  be  brought 
within  your  influence,  together  with  the  unknown 
trials  that  wait  upon  new  settlements,  and  the  com- 
forts, such  as  they  are,  which  you  enjoy  here,  may 
tempt  you  to  shrink  from  your  real  duty.  I  have 
endeavoured  to  define  and  enforce  it  by  the  most 
solid  arguments;  and,  before  you  do  decide  against 
this  advice,  let  me  once  more  entreat  you  to  take 
your  present  condition  into  solemn  consideration. 
Then,  if  your  are  convinced,  as  I  think  you  must 
be,  that  you  really  possess  the  power  to  be  of  service 
to  Africa,  do  not  be  deterred  from  examining  the 
condition  of  your  fatherland,  closely  and  carefully. 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  219 

If  you  find  your  native  brethren  powerless  for  the 
defence  of  your  nation,  as  were  the  Indians  of  this 
country  when  we  landed  on  these  shores,  then  let 
not  their  weakness  turn  you  from  them,  but  rather 
suffer  it  to  draw  you  closer  to  them.     And  do  not 
delay  the  commencement  of  your  work  of  charity 
and  glory.     Remember  that  the  ground  you  stand 
upon  was  depopulated  by  our  sires,  without  mercy 
to  the  original  owners.     The  motives  that  actuated 
England  then,  are  now  as  strong  as  ever.     England 
has   recently  found  her  way   into   the   interior  of 
Africa,  and  it  is  said  that  she  is  even  now  building 
steamboats  to  navigate  African  rivers.     Let  us  sup- 
pose that  she  shbuld  find  fertile  cotton  regions  there. 
These  would   be   of  more  value   to   her  than  her 
Australian  gold  mines.     With  such    a  treasure  in 
view,  she  would  colonize.     If  she  did  not  virtually 
enslave  your  people,  she  would  seek  her  profit  at 
the  cost  of  your  brethren  as  unscrupulously  and  as 
sternly  as  she  now  cultivates  opium  at  the  cost  of 
the  Hindoo.     In  such  a  case,  your  power  for  the 
formation  of  free  states  would  be  seriously  limited, 
as  long  as  African  labour  could  render  these  cotton 
fields  of  value  to  the  English  manufacturer.     Let 
us  suppose  rich  gold  mines  to  be  discovered  in  the 
interior  of  Africa.     Can  you    think  for  a   moment 
that  the  white  man  would  be  kept  from  taking  pos- 


220  OUR    TTIIOLE    DUTY 

session  of  them,  were  Africa  possessed  of  no  other 
means  of  resistance  than  such  as  }our  native 
brethren  could  offer?  Such  discoveries  are  not 
improbable ;  and,  in  the  event  of  either  gold  mines 
or  cotton  fields,  or  both,  being  discovered,  even 
Liberia  —  the  scion  of  civilization  and  liberty,  en- 
grafted upon  an  African  stem  —  might  wither  and 
die !  All  Africa  might  be  brought  under  colonial 
vassalage  to  the  white  race.  Your  chance  of  estab- 
lishing a  nationality  of  your  own  might  then  be 
forever  lost ;  or,  if  Liberia  should  still  be  saved  for 
a  time  by  the  treaties  she  has  already  formed  with 
European  nations,  her  territory  would  remain  too 
narrow 'for  power,  and  too  feeble  for  respect.  Take 
your  ground,  and  determine  at  once  that  you  will 
live  or  die  for  your  country  !  Secure  the  organiza- 
tion of  three  or  four  free  states,  and  you  will  not 
only  be  enabled  to  defend  against  all  intrusion  of 
the  white  man  a  country  larger  than  ours,  but  you 
will  also  secure  all  that  which  is  valuable  in  Africa 
—  her  spices,  her  cotton,  her  coffee,  her  gold,  her 
unbounded  resources  of  commerce  and  agriculture. 
Such  advantages  will  not  only  assure  you  of  a  per- 
sonal independence,  but  you  will  be,  like  other  men, 
treading  this  earth  their  equals,  however  proud  and 
boastful  they  may  be  of  their  national  power  and 
national  glory !     Your  liberty  will  be  complete  for 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  221 

your  own  good.  Your  example  and  influence  will 
spread  Christianity  and  freedom  throughout  tlie 
vast  multitudes  swarming  between  Abyssinia  and 
the  Atlantic,  Zahara  and  the  Cape.  Your  commerce 
will  spread  its  wings  over  the  Red  Sea,  the  Persian 
Gulf,  and  the  Indian  Ocean,  and  your  influence  may 
even  react  upon  civilization,  and  check  the  distinction 
of  races  in  the  Islands  of  the  far-ofi"  Pacific. 

But  even  long  before  these  grand  results  can  be 
accomplished,  your  energies  will  have  rendered  you 
happy,  free,  and  independent.  You  will  not  be  as 
you  are  here,  reduced  almost  to  a  single  occupation, 
—  that  of  carrying  the  hod  or  working  in  the  field. 
Your  free  will  in  your  own  land  will  give  you  a 
choice  of  occupation.  You  will  be  your  own  gene- 
rals, and  your  own  statesmen ;  your  own  lawyers,  and 
your  own  judges:  you  will  be  the  laymen,  and 
will  choose  your  own  preachers :  you  will  cultivate 
your  own  land,  and  sell  the  surplus  product  of  your 
labour :  you  will  build  your  own  ships,  and  you 
alone  will  navigate  them  :  you  will  work  and  fatten 
your  own  oxen,  and  you  will  eat  of  the  fat  of  the 
land  :  you  will  eat  the  African  deer,  instead  of  the 
American  opossum :  you  will  build  your  own  houses 
and  live  in  them :  you  will  no  longer  be  obliged  to 
temper  the  mortar  for  your  "  bricks,  without  straw  :" 
you  will  be  your  own  tanners  and  your  own  shoe- 


222  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

makers :  in  short,  when  the  inclemency  of  the 
weather  confines  you  to  your  houses,  your  indoor 
occupations  will  keep  you  from  starving.  Such  are 
the  blessings  within  reach  of  your  own  hands,  if  you 
will  but  exert  your  energies  to  seize  them.  And 
what  are  your  chances  for  happiness,  good  and  com- 
fortable living,  and  independence  here?  I  say  — 
vone !  But  you  say  that  your  hopes  rest  with  the 
efforts  which  the  Abolitionists  are  making  for  you ! 

Attributes  which  dignify  man ;  such  as  honour, 
virtue,  and  patriotism;  are  judged  of  arbitrarily, 
according  to  the  prejudices  and  peculiar  social  posi- 
tion of  the  judge  :  they  are  terms  applied  indefinitehj 
by  society.  Men,  in  their  daily  walks,  are  estimated, 
not  by  their  real  motives,  but  by  what  they  do,  and 
still  more  by  what  they  leave  undone;  and  when 
the  scrutiny  is  not  made  with  unusual  wisdom,  they 
may  receive  credit  for  the  practice  of  the  highest 
virtues,  even  when  their  conduct  is  dictated  by  sel- 
fishness, baseness,  vice,  and  treason.  Now,  you  may 
consent  to  erect  the  proper  standard  for  your  duty 
in  relation  to  African  independence  and  Christian 
civilization,  yet,  for  want  of  proper  care  and  atten- 
tion on  your  part,  you  may  fail  to  come  up  to  that 
standard;  and,  in  that  case,  you  will  be  judged  by 
the  whole  world  for  your  actual  omission  of  duty, 
however  good  may  be  your  intentions.     Let  me  ask 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  223 

you  to  examine  your  supposed  or  avowed  friends 
by  this  same  rule,  lest  you  attribute  to  them  a 
degree  of  virtue  or  wisdom  of  which  either  their 
real  intentions,  or  their  sins  of  omission  may  render 
them  entirely  unworthy.  This  is  necessary,  even 
to  your  own  defence. 

Your  relations  with  us,  as  strangers  in  a  foreign 
land ;  the   bondage   of   your   brethren ;   your   own 
serfdom;  your  present  condition    and   your  future 
prospects;  all  these  things  are  positive  fa/its,    and 
can  be  judged  of  accordingly.     You  should  endea- 
vour to  judge  of  the  value  of  your  friends,  not  by 
their  professions  in  advocating  what  is  "  right,"  but 
by  the  bearing  of  their  actual  conduct  on  these  evils 
of  which  you  so  justly  complain.     Hence;    when 
the  Abolitionist  proclaims  upon  Ids  standard,  equal 
rigJiis  in  citizenship  and  labour,  for  the  elevation  of 
your  race   to  social   equality  in  this   country,  and 
appeals  to  humanity  in  defence  of  those  rights,  it  is 
a  duty  and  even  a  necessity  for  you  to  inquire  into 
his  actSy  and  examine  whether  his  practices  come  up 
to  the  requirements  of  this  standard.     If,  for  exam- 
ple, he  maintains  that  the  country  is  large  enough 
for  you  and  us,  and  that  there  is  labour  enough  for 
us  all,  it  will  be  proper  for  you,  before  you  place 
implicit   confidence   in    his   assertions,  to  ascertain 
whether   he   is   really  active  in  seeking,   for   your 


224  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

benefit,  a  proper  distribution  of  labour,  in  such  a 
way  as  to  make  his  professions  of  use  to  you; 
whether  he  is  seeking  places  for  your  sons  in 
machine  shops,  carpenter  shofts,  and  stores,  and  in 
this  way  endeavouring  to  secure  all  manner  of 
trades  for  your  children.  If  you  find  that  he  is  not 
doing  so,  then  you  must  perceive  at  once  that  the 
vast  extent  of  country  we  possess,  and  the  vast 
amount  of  labour  we  have  to  perform,  will  have  no 
other  effect  upon  you  than  to  aggravate  the  positive 
evils  you  now  endure,  in  consequence  of  the  want 
of  proper  employment  during  inclement  weather. 
Now,  there  are  hundreds  of  you  who  are  capable  of 
entering  into  this  inquiry  —  hundreds  who  must 
fully  understand  that,  with  the  increase  of  your 
population,  the  evils  of  the  want  of  a  proper  dis- 
tribution of  labour  in  your  behalf  will  increase 
upon  you ;  especially  as  your  experience  teaches 
you,  even  now,  that  the  amount  of  your  outdoor 
labour  becomes  daily  more  limited  by  the  rapid 
increase  of  our  race.  Thus  you  must  see  that 
misery  upon  misery  must  accumulate  upon  j^ou  in 
the  future,  and  that  that  which  is  scarcely  bearable 
now,  will  become  intolerable  when  you  number 
twenty  millions  in  a  foreign  land.  This  must  be  so ; 
for  we  can  measure  the  depths  of  degradation,  vice, 
and  treason  which  may  depress  a  people,  but  we  can 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  225 

never  measure  the  height  to  which  honour,  virtue, 
and  patriotism  can  elevate  it. 

For  your  encouragement,  stores  are  estabhshed 
Avhere  nothing  but  the  product  of  free  labour  is  sold, 
and  it  is  strongly  urged  by  some  of  your  friends 
that  England  should  seek  new  cotton  fields,  to 
enable  her  to  refuse  to  purch;..-e  the  jDroduct  of  slave 
labour,  in  order  to  compel  the  master  to  liberate  the 
slave,  by  destroying  the  value  of  his  labour.  This 
is  like  many  other  projects  for  your  benefit — wholly 
ineffective !  But  if  it  could  really  be  carried  into 
effect,  it  would  prove  terribly  jorejudicial  to  your 
brethren,  the  slaves.  The  idea  of  starving  the  mas- 
ter without  also  starving  the  slave,  is  preposterous. 
That  which  seriously  affects  the  one,  must  of  neces- 
sity, and  in  like  manner,  affect  the  other,  besides 
probably  leading  to  insurrection.  This  irrational 
measure  would  seriously  affect  the  monetary  con- 
cerns of  the  wdiole  country.  The  policy,  in  itself, 
is  lull  of  mischief,  without  having  the  power  to 
accomplish  for  your  race  the  least  possible  good. 
The  result  of  such  an  experiment  upon  a  large 
scide,  would  prove  suiely  producti\'e  of  wide-spread 
sufl'ering  and  misery  to  your  race. 

Now,  your  friends  urge  the  plausible  plea  tluit 
the  division  of  labor.r  is  ''[/', ur  ri(jJiiJ'  and  lliat 
noHiing  but  prejudice  can  prevent  }"ou  IVdiu  the 
r 


226  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

enjoyment  of  this  right.  But  when  they,  as  well 
as  you,  know  that  they  do  not  exert  themselves  to 
secure  tliis  right,  and  have  neither  hope  nor  power 
to  remove  this  prejudice,  their  pretensions  can  have 
no  other  effect  than  to  encourage  agitation,  and  dis- 
turb the  harmony  of  the  Union,  while  inducing 
society,  at  the  same  time,  to  regard  you  as  the  real 
cause  of  all  its  troubles. 

In  the  perverted  use  which  the  Abolitionist  makes 
of  the  plea  of  equal  rights  for  you,  I  think  I  can 
show  that  all  their  exertions  in  your  behalf  are  in 
a  great  measure  neutralized  by  their  own  action. 

The  declaration  of  "  equal  rights  "  engrafted  upon 
our  institutions,  has  no  legal  meaning  or  intention, 
except  as  applicable  to  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States ;  yet  your  Abolition  friends  would  make  this 
declaration  apply  to  you,  and  the  whole  world 
besides.  They  not  only  contend  that  every  foreigner 
who  comes  here,  although  he  never  had  a  right  to  a 
vote  in  the  country  from  which  he  came,  has  thart 
right  naturally  here,  but  that  it  is  wrong  to  deprive 
him  of  his  vote  for  the  shortest  possible  time ;  that 
it  is  wrong  to  prevent  the  foreigner  from  taking 
land ;  that  he  has  a  natural  right  to  it ;  and,  in  this 
way,  they  pervert  the  whole  meaning  of  this  human 
law,  because,  in  the  abstract,  their  view  is  "right" 
by  a  "  higher  law."     But  in  contending  for  this  as 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  227 

broadly  as  they  do,  let  us  inquire  how  it  affects  the 
hopes  by  which  they  flatter  you  into  a  belief  of  their 
friendship.  The  immigration  from  Europe  into  this 
country  for  the  last  few  years,  has  reached  the  rate 
of  a  thousand  for  each  day  in  the  year,  or  nearly  so. 
The  majority  of  these  men  have  never  seen  men  of 
your  colour,  until  they  arrive  upon  our  shores;  a 
majority  of  them  are  poor  like  yourselves.  The 
first  thing  many  of  them  aim  at  is  lahour  ;  in  seeking 
which  they  are  aided  by  societies  formed  for  the 
purpose,  among  whom  the  humane  Abolitionist  per- 
haps may  also  be  found.  Labour  is  secured  for 
them,  at  your  expense.  As  it  so  happens  that  you, 
as  labourers,  stand  directly  in  the  way  of  their 
expectations,  they  at  once  take  a  disHke  to  you ; 
and  you  know  that  a  large  portion  of  them  hold 
absolute  antipathies  against  you  of  the  strongest 
kind,  and  are  not  disposed  to  show  you  any  quarter. 
Yet  these  are  the  men  that  are  encouraged  hy  your 
friends  to  come  up  regularly  to  the  ballot-box  in  due 
course  of  time ;  so  that  they  are  obliged  to  ask  of 
your  worst  enemies  the  right  of  admitting  you  to 
vote,  because  it  is  "  right !"  This  appears  to  me, 
however  it  may  seem  to  you,  very  much  like  asking 
a  man  to  come  out  of  a  room  where  he  is  nearly 
suffocated  with  smoke,  whilst  taking  care  to  have 
the  door  secured  by  a  secret  enemy. 


228  OUR    WHOLE     DUTY 

If  the  Abolitionist  would  do  Ids  own  voting  until 
you  could  be  brought  upon  the  same  platform  with 
the  foreigner,  you  might  have  some  hope  ;  but  as 
long  as  the  foreigner  has  a  vote  and  you  none  —  he 
ha\dng  no  regard  for  you,  not  even  from  habitual 
acquaintance — you  can  have  no  hopes  of  citizenship 
in  this  country.  For  your  own  benefit,  too  many 
guests  are  invited;  the  loaf  is  cut  and  divided 
before  it  reaches  the  second  table.  So  that,  even 
the  fact  that  "  all  men  are  born  equal,"  and  have 
"equal  rights,"  is  of  no  use  to  you  here,  you  not 
being  citizens ;  nor  is  it  of  any  avail  to  your  friends 
for  your  benefit,  but  serves  their  purpose  merely  for 
agitation,  with  a  view  to  their  own.  Your  peculiar 
relation  to  this  country  ought  to  render  you  ex- 
tremely doubtful  of  any  proffered  favours,  unless 
you  can  clearly  understand  that  these  favours  are 
predicated  upon  a  practical  basis.  Let  me  conjure 
you,  then,  while  you  are  yet  few  in  numbers,  whilst 
Africa  stands  open  to  receive  you,  and  whilst  means 
are  being  made  ready  for  your  transit,  to  remain  no 
longer  (I  will  not  say  traitors)  indifferent  to  your 
country :  for  there  is  a  possibility,  if  you  should 
remain  here  until  your  population  becomes  so  vast, 
and  your  burdens  so  much  increased,  as  to  cause 
you  to  cry  aloud  for  relief  in  the  midst  of  your 
sufferings,  as  did  the  Children  of  Israel,  that    the 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN.  229 

door  of  African  hospitality  may  be  closed  against 
you.  New  developments  of  Africa  are  daily  being 
made,  and  it  is  impossible  to  tell  what  those  devel- 
opments may  bring  forth. 

The  institutions  of  society  are  of  the  sternest 
character.  Yes !  even  a  Christian  civilization  has 
no  sympathy  for  a  neglect  or  omission  of  duties. 
Charity  appeals  for  mercy,  but,  alas!  too  often  in 
vain.  Society  appreciates  individuals  only  for  their 
worth,  because  worthy  men  alone  constitute  good 
society.  Hence;  even  the  profligate,  the  vicious, 
and  the  idle  of  the  white  race  are  sufferers,  even 
now,  as  much  as  yourselves. 

That  which  I  wish  you  to  understand  fully  is, 
not  only  3'our  individual  connection  and  partial 
dependence  upon  us,  but  your  relation,  as  a  nation, 
to  society  at  large  and  the  brotherhood  of  men. 
When  you  do  understand  the  all-important  truths 
in  relation  to  your  condition,  which  I  have  so 
frankly  urged  upon  your  attention,  you  will  not 
regard  the  unmeaning  appeals  of  demagogues,  and 
kind-hearted  but  misguided  theorists,  for  your  eleva- 
tion here;  but  you  will  work  and  act  like  men 
to  secure  your  elevation  in  your  own  country.  You 
are  perfectly  familiar  with  the  fact  that  the  society 
of  Europe,  governed  by  a  Christian  civilization, 
seized    upon   this   country,  and   removed   from   its 


230  OUR  WHOLE  duty 

path  of  progress  the  native  and  original  proprietor. 
Whatever  the  mysterious  designs  of  the  all-wise 
Euler  of  the  Universe  may  have  been,  in  permitting 
this  seemingly  dark  deed  to  be  done,  the  facts 
which  have  so  strikingly  facilitated  the  event  are 
these :  —  The  natives  depended  solely  upon  the 
bounties  of  nature;  and,  rather  than  work,  they 
continually  reduced  their  numbers  within  the  means 
of  living  upon  a  providential  supply,  by  warring 
upon  each  other.  Their  removal  made  way  for  an 
industrious  race  upon  the  same  ground — a  race  with 
flourishing  fields ;  a  race  augmenting  the  means  of 
subsistence  and  comfort  in  more  than  a  hundred-fold, 
by  the  proper  exercise  of  that  intellect  which  God 
himself  breathed  into  the  nostrils  of  our  first  proge- 
nitor ;  and  thus,  by  the  development  of  the  hidden 
treasures  of  the  earth  for  the  comforts  of  man  and  the 
glory  of  God  himself,  millions  upon  millions  of  human 
beings  are  now  made  the  recipients  of  an  earthly 
happiness  and  a  hope  of  Heaven,  which,  under  the 
rule  of  savage  tribes  and  savage  customs,  would 
never  have  existed.  But  was  this  "right?"  Here 
is  a  theme  for  the  divine  and  the  philosopher  !  If 
properly  inquired  into  and  explained,  it  may  show 
how  much  good  may  sometimes  grow  out  of  evil. 
But,  for  our  purpose,  the  reference  to  the  fact  itself 
is  sufficient. 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAX.  231 

You  see  your  own  nation  idle  and  degraded,  and 
entirely  unmindful  of  the  duty  it  owes  to  itself  and 
the  God  you  worship ;  you  see  society  and  Christian 
civilization  progressing  with  the  same  sternness  now 
that  characterized  its  march  three  hundred  years  ago, 
—  demanding  the  active  exercise  of  the  high  duties 
which  each  man  owes  to  his  neighbour  and  to  his 
God,  and  still  proclaiming  honour  to  the  man  who 
will  make  two  spears  of  grass  grow  where  but  one 
grew  before  !  And,  as  your  knowledge  of  the  fact  that 
God  has  permitted  one  idle  and  degraded  nation  to  be 
removed  from  the  face  of  the  earth  is  so  complete, 
what  right  have  you  to  believe  that  He  will  not 
permit  the  removal  of  another  for  like  causes? 
Should  such  be  the  fate  of  your  fatherland  in  the 
rapid  progress  of  the  white  race,  then,  when  you 
shall  number  millions  in  this  land,  will  the  dark 
side  of  the  picture  of  your  destiny  be  brought  into 
view  indeed ! 

AYe  can  have  no  reason  to  entertain,  for  one  mo- 
ment, the  belief  that  God  will  desert  those  who  are 
dutiful  in  obeying  his  will.  Let  us  then  suppose  that 
the  aborigines  of  America  had  numbered  500,000  of 
their  race  in  Europe,  previous  to  the  European 
colonization  of  this  country.  Let  us  suppose  that 
they  had,  then  and  there,  possessed  the  same  know- 
ledge of  freedom   and  the  Christian  reliijion  which 


232  OUR    "WHOLE    DUTY 

you  now  enjoy ;  that  they  had  brought  their  know- 
ledge with  them  to  this  hmd,  as  they  might  then 
have  done;  that  they  had  estabUshed  here  free 
states,  and  enlightened  their  brethren ;  do  you  not 
believe  that,  instead  of  leaving  to  us  all  the  blessings 
this  country  affords  us,  and  will  continue  to  afford 
to  millions  of  our  race,  tliey  would  now  be  in  the 
fruition  of  all  these  enjoyments  themselves  ?  I  do  ! 
Let  us  suppose,  however,  that  these  500,000  Ameri- 
can Indians  in  Europe  had  refused  to  be  instrumental 
in  the  redemjotion  of  their  native  land,  and  rather 
chose  to  remain  servants,  in  Europe.  What,  in  this 
ca,se,  should  we  now  think  of  their  blindness  ? 

With  these  friendly  remarks  I  leave  you,  in  the 
hope  that  your  race  will  profit  by  them,  through 
all  future  time. 


TO    THE    BLACK    MAN. 


CONCLUSION. 


I  THOUGHT  I  had  finished,  but  I  must  hold  you  a 
little  longer. 

While  these  pages  have  been  passing  through  the 
press,  a  new  territorial  Government  has  been  organ- 
ized by  Congress.  The  "  act "  for  this  purpose  has 
almost  monopolized  the  attention  of  the  national 
legislature  at  the  present  session ;  and  all  that  gave 
the  measure  special  interest  in  discussion,  and  that 
will  constitute  its  importance  in  application,  is  its 
bearing  upon  slavery  and  the  jjiiblic  lands  ! 

Thus  you  see  I  have  not  busied  myself  upon  a 
far-fetched  or  subordinate  subject.  It  is  one  that 
forces  itself  upon  our  attention  in  every  speech  at 
"Washington,  and  in  every  newspaper  throughout  the 
Republic.     It  has  awakened  an  unquiet  spirit  that 


234  OUR    WHOLE    DUTY 

defies   exorcism  either  by  the  patriot  or  the  wily 
politician.     And  I  am  glad  it  does  so ! 

I  have  dedicated  this  volume  to  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States.  It  was  proper  for  me  to  do  so. 
But  I  was  aware  from  the  first,  my  countrymen, 
that  my  final  and  prevailing  appeal  must  be  made  to 
you.  The  lust  of  power  and  the  coils  of  patronage 
will  restrain  the  strongest  sinews.  You  are  yet 
Samsons  unbound  :  listen,  then,  as  to  a  great  deliv- 
erance from  a  great  danger;  for  th^  evil  has  already 
come  home  to  our  hearths  and  our  bosoms. 

No  portion  of  the  human  family  has  ever  borne 
such  a  relation  to  the  whole,  as  our  nation  does  to 
the  rest  of  the  world  at  this  time.  We  hold  civil 
liberty  for  our  own  happiness,  but  also  in  trust  for 
all  mankind ;  and  as  we  demean  ourselves  under  its 
influence,  so  will  the  great  cause  be  advanced  or 
retarded.  "  Can  a  man  take  fire  into  his  bosom  and 
not  be  burned  ?"  And  can  men  trample  upon  the 
essentials  of  liberty,  and  yet  enjoy  its  life  and 
strength?  Certainly  not.  Then  believe  me,  that 
o«r  action  on  the  disposition  of  the  Public  Domain, 
and  upon  the  institution  of  slavery,  will  determine 
the  question  of  peace  or  strife  for  our  own  genera- 
tion, and  stamp  the  inheritance  of  our  successors 


TO    THE     BLACK     MAN.  235 

for  good  or  evil.  If  we  suffer  the  public  lands  to 
be  grasped  by  a  few  demagogues,  we  shall  create  a 
landed  aristocracy.  If  we  give  these  lands  away  to 
the  vagabond  and  adventurer,  we  shall  be  squander- 
ing the  means  of  the  world's  independence.  And, 
if  we  foster  and  extend  slavery,  we  shall  be  found 
enacting  feudalism  on  the  soil  hitherto  consecrated 
by  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

"  Can  such  things  be, 
And  overcome  us  like  a  summer  cloud, 
"Without  our  special  wonder  ?" 

Let  no  one  persuade  you  that  this  is  mere  decla- 
mation :  it  is  stern  truth,  which  we  may  now  see 
and  soon  shall  feel. 

Our  grand  preliminary  measure  is  a  change  of 
custody  for  the  Public  Domain.  I  propose  that  we 
create  a  special  authority  for  that  purpose ;  and  I 
wish  this  new  feature  in  our  great  experiment  of 
liberty  and  law  to  be  accomplished  with  all  due 
form  and  order.  Its  most  appropriate  commence- 
ment will  be  in  an  act  of  Congress  authorizing  the 
election  of  delegates  to  compose  a  Convention  which 
shall  determine  the  particulars  of  a  plan  of  opera- 
tion.    But  —  Congress  may  refuse  to  do  this  ! 


230         OUR   WHOLE    DUTY   TO   THE    BLACK   MAX. 

It  is  in  view  of  this  contingency  that  I  have 
turned  back  to  you  with  these  "few  more  last 
words." 

Should  Congress  not  authorize  this  Convention ; 
should  your  representatives  refuse  this  righteous 
request ;  then  must  every  township  call  its  primitive 
meeting,  and,  like  the  "  Caulkers'  Club  "  in  Boston 
of  old,  take  this  matter  up  as  individuals,  and 
agitate,  and  resolve,  and  vote,  until  this  great 
measure  be  accomplished. 


THE    END. 


llliiiiilB^^^ 

A  A         001  413  257  i 


